Power Rangers: Neo Zeo
by Michelle the Editor
Summary: In the year 1999, while the Galaxy Rangers defend Terra Venture, the ancient Zodiac Emperors are revived and make Earth their target. Alpha 5, having returned to Earth, discovers the damaged Zeo Crystal and mounts a defense against the alien invaders, recruiting several humans to serve as the Neo Zeo Rangers.
1. Aries: The Crystal Ignites

Hello 2014! I know the site's listing this story as being published on December 31st, but it's past midnight and I heard fireworks and explosives, so it's 2014. Time for my first series to return to the internet, hopefully this time rather better than the first version.

Disclaimer: Power Rangers is the property of Saban.

oZo

Alpha 5 activated with a start and looked around. It was early morning, by the faint light spilling in from the holes in the Power Chamber's roof. He sighed, and wondered how he was going to get those repaired. Then he shook his head, and unplugged himself from the generator. That was the only piece of new, Eltarian technology in the place, brought along by the Phantom Ranger when he'd dropped Alpha 5 off.

Trudging to the middle of the room, Alpha got back to work on yesterday's job—evaluating which consoles still worked. The Piranhatron attack and year of neglect had left more than half of the Power Chamber's technology in need of repair—or even ruined entirely. Alpha 5 had a growing heap of junk in one of the tunnels.

The scanners were nearly whole. Alpha turned one on, and started sweeping the surrounding space for dark energy as he worked. He couldn't be too prepared, after all—the closest Rangers were on Terra Venture or Aquitar.

As Alpha strained and struggled with a burnt-out circuitry panel, he saw a flicker of red light. It was the alarm; its bulb had shattered, and it couldn't spin, pinned by a fallen pipe, but it flashed weakly.

"What?" Dropping the panel, he hurried over to the viewscreen, but it stubbornly refused to turn on. Whatever was setting off the alarm wasn't visible. After five agonizing minutes, an energy signal appeared. It was faint, coming from the Moon, but the computer died after only seconds of showing the image.

"Ai-yi-yi, no! Come back!" Frantically, Alpha 5 tried to restore the computer, to no avail.

In the sudden darkness, however, Alpha 5 noticed something else. A strange, faint light glowed from behind a broken glass tube in one corner. Slowly, feet crunching on bits of rubble and glass, Alpha crossed the room. Reaching the tube, he hesitated, and then reached up. His hand found a small switch, and with a clank and grinding noise, the tube began to slide sideways.

The light grew brighter as it moved, and gradually a small cubbyhole was revealed. Alpha reached inside, and drew out a large crystal, made up of five elongated pieces. One had a long, blackened crack running up its length. Colored lights swirled in its depths.

"The Zeo Crystal!" Alpha 5 exclaimed, in a tone of awe. "I thought Divatox would have found you if the Rangers didn't!"

Still cradling the Zeo Crystal, he returned to the computer. A few button pushes and he got it working again. The Zeo Crystal's own energy signature appeared, matching the evil energy as they both began to spike.

"Oh no. That looks like—" Alpha set the Zeo Crystal down on a console and focused on the scanner. With some trouble, he managed to get into the archives, and started searching.

It took ten minutes. Alpha 5 could hear the Zeo Crystal humming on the edges of his hearing, and he shivered a little. If it only grew more powerful as time passed, what was it capable of now? Finally, the computer found a match. Alpha clapped his hands to his head.

"The Zodiac Emperors? Eleven of them?" He cried, his voice shooting up almost an octave. "And they're heading straight for Earth! What do we do—what do I do?" He glanced at Zordon's broken tube again. "What would you do?"

Alpha 5 didn't really need to ask. He remembered Zordon's instructions like it was yesterday: five overbearing and overemotional humans. Well, four, with the Pink Crystal still out of commission. Alpha 5 looked around the Power Chamber. He'd need to finish repairing the scanners first, so they could tell him what the Zodiac Emperors were up to, and then the teleportation system to find his Rangers. Although he already had an idea of where to start…

"Right." Alpha 5 flexed his fingers. "To work!"

oZo

A massive, ship shaped almost like a naval ship or an ocean liner lay on the pockmarked, grey surface of Earth's Moon. Its sides were a patchwork of new, old and ancient metalwork, all different colors. Around it, smaller ships, each just big enough for a single pilot, buzzed like flies over a garbage heap. Each of them had the same symbol—a red triangle with three black lightning bolts cutting through it—painted or etched into their hulls. It was the sign of the Windjammers, reputed to be the fastest mercenaries in the galaxy.

On the ship's bridge, located in the stern, a variety of monsters were finishing up the landing sequence. One, a black, vaguely demonic creature covered with stubbly horns, shook his head in disgust.

"Why would anyone want this rustbucket? This is, what, five thousand, six thousand years old?" He kicked the console, and something clunked inside it.

"Who cares? So long as we get paid," a Viking-esque female with blonde braids that trailed on the floor retorted.

Now a square-headed robot piped up, in an electronically squeaky voice. "Speaking of, has Ophiuchus called in? We sent him the message a couple cycles ago, what's taking him so long?"

The horned monster let out a scornful snort. "Made some excuse about not being able to make it until tomorrow. Some event he's waiting for as a cover so he can get away."

A couple of the other monsters laughed, or just shook their heads in disgust. One muttered about spoiled princelings with their elaborate plans. The monsters left the bridge, heading in various directions.

"You coming, Pitch?" This was directed at the horned monster, who was going down a dark hallway.

"I'll be along. Just want to check on something, that's all," he replied, and headed into the passage. Soon, the other monsters' voices faded, replaced by the grinding and growling of the ship's workings. Following a zigzagging ramp, Pitch descended into the ship's bowels, where the power had gone out and thick, slimy fluids leaked from wall pipes.

Sloshing through them, Pitch headed down a long hallway lined with cell doors. Finally, he reached a single, imposing door twice his height and almost as wide. It was made of thick metal, fastened with multiple locks of different kinds. Pitch rapped on it. Faintly, he heard an echo, and grinned. This was the most secure part of the ship; whatever Ophiuchus wanted was here. Treasure, Pitch guessed. He probably wouldn't miss a small helping.

He put his hands on two of the locks, and concentrated. Black ooze began to flow out of his palms, seeping into the cracks and keyholes. The tumblers clicked into place one by one, until at last Pitch heard the locks undo. A faint rumble carried from within the locked room, but Pitch guessed it was the pipes. Grasping the door handle, he pulled. The hinges groaned as the heavy door swung open.

The room was massive and cavernous, but something gleamed in the faint light from the corridor. Pitch hurried inside, looking around eagerly. Inside, a second, whiter light gleamed faintly—it was coming from the wall. Inset in it was a curved obsidian box, or a coffin. Somehow, a constellation glittered in the surface. Pitch quickly searched for its lock, and found a seam running along the side.

Pitch was so intent on opening the case that he didn't notice the stars on its front growing brighter. At last, he finished, and the case popped open—only for a hand the size of his head to clamp down on his throat. With a strangled gurgle, he clawed at the fur-covered hand, eyes goggling. The arm lifted him off his feet, and then hurled Pitch across the hallway. He slammed into the opposite door hard enough to dent it, collapsing limply.

The coffin's lid swung open smoothly, and out stepped his attacker. Two cloven hooves squelched through the slime puddling on the floor. A fleecy cape, that glinted gold even though there was little light to reflect on it, dangled inches above the creature's ankles. As it reached the door, it had to duck, and even then its curling ram's horns scraped the doorway.

Footsteps echoing, the ram monster headed up the ramps, towards the occupied parts of the ship. The light illuminated his head, shaped like a ram's, and the black tunic belted at his waist. Twelve white stars formed a ring on his chest.

A passing monster caught sight of him, and let out a startled shout, attracting the attention of his fellows. All drew their weapons—swords, guns, even a chainsaw—and charged en masse. The ram monster leaped, almost too lightly for his size, and backflipped over the crowd. As they halted, confused, he spun and lunged at them from behind. Backhands knocked Windjammers flat; his hooves crushed in armor with each kick.

Within seconds, the entire crowd of outlaws had been turned into a wounded, moaning mass. The battle had, however, caused a lot of noise, and more Windjammers were already flooding into the room. The ram monster spun, facing his new foes, but before he could do anything, a voice rang out.

"Emperor Aries!"

The ram monster halted, and the Windjammers hesitated. Through the crowd pushed a very tall alien. His head was snakelike, his skin green and scaly, and he wore bone-white armor. Reaching the space between Windjammers and the ram monster, he dropped to one knee.

"I thought it best not to tell these mercenaries what they were transporting in order to keep your rescue a secret. I hoped to arrive before any of them tried to figure it out, but I was delayed. I beg your pardon."

Slowly, Emperor Aries straightened, lowering his arms. At a glare from the snake creature, the Windjammers sheathed their weapons.

"Rise and explain yourself," Emperor Aries said.

The snake monster obeyed. "I am Ophiuchus, of the Sagittarius house—or what's left of it. I wanted to rescue you and the other Zodiac Emperors and overthrow Scorpius."

"You mean Scorpio." Aries removed his cape, and moved to the wounded Windjammers. They recoiled as he approached, but were too battered to get away. Aries draped the fleece over the nearest, and when he removed it, the monster sat up, healed. He looked as confused and surprised as everyone else.

"Scorpio has been dead for eight thousand years."

As Aries finished healing the wounded, Ophiuchus rose. The Windjammers collected their comades and slipped out of the room, casting wary glances at the Zodiac Emperor and muttering quietly.

"Are these your army?" Aries asked the snakelike monster, gesturing towards the departing mercenaries.

"The closest I have to one, at the moment," Ophiuchus admitted. "You are all but a legend on the homeworld now."

Aries let out a grunt. "We'll raise one. What is the nearest populated planet?"

"Earth."

oZo

Lidian Byron sat crosslegged on the shore of Angel Grove Lake, loading a new reel of film into his camera. It was early April, too cold for most swimmers (though he was jacketless, wearing shorts and barefoot), but still nice weather, and he'd gotten a lot of great photos of the landscape. His brown curls hung in his eyes as he leaned forward to put the used roll of film in his bag; he hadn't gotten his hair cut in a while.

As he closed the back of his camera, he heard a loud splash, and looked up. He was just in time to see a dolphin-shaped fluke slap the water. Startled, Lidian sprang to his feet, staring. He could just make out a blue shape the size of a human moving under the water. Snatching up his camera bag, he clambered along the rocks, following the creature. He wondered whether it was an alien or something else; there hadn't been any monster attacks since the invasion last year, and people said it was about time for another wave.

The creature surfaced again, and Lidian glimpsed a slim body covered in what looked like blue scales. He only saw it for a second before it went back under, but it looked like a mermaid. It was swimming for a rock formation nearby, and Lidian headed that way, clambering up the shoreward side. He heard a splash, and as he climbed around the pile, he saw the mermaid sitting on the rocks. She had very dark skin, black hair in a braid, and what looked like a full-body swimsuit—though her tail came up to her waist.

Lidian was so intent on the creature that he didn't notice anyone else nearby until a female voice rang out directly behind him.

"What are you doing?"

Lidian jumped and spun around, discovering an African-American girl standing behind him with folded arms. She looked about his age, maybe younger since she was pretty short. Her slightly slanted eyes, pointed chin and forward nose gave her a vaguely foxlike look.

Recovering, Lidian put a finger on his lips and pointed to the mermaid. The girl looked past him, and her eyebrows shot up. Lidian turned around, and to his relief saw that the mermaid hadn't noticed them. She'd dragged herself fully out of the water, and was examining her tail. Lidian crouched, and the girl joined him as he fished out his camera and began snapping shots of the mermaid.

"She's not acting like a monster, at least," he whispered.

"How would she? I don't think she can walk in that tail," the girl pointed out.

"I don't know, what are mermaids known for?"

"Enchanting sailors with their voices, wrecking ships, stuff like that. I'm Casey, by the way."

"Lidian Byron."

"Lydia?" Casey sounded surprised.

"LidiaN."

"What kind of a name is that?"

"Greek." He was so used to the lie by now that he didn't even think about it.

"Cool. Are you Greek, or just your parents or something?" Casey seemed to have forgotten all about the mermaid; she was pretty loud. Lidian shushed her, but it was too late. Looking up, he locked eyes with the mermaid.

"Casey?" The mermaid called, looking wary. "What are you doing?"

"Oh." Casey stood up. "Just making sure you weren't getting stalked, Vi. It's okay, he thought you were a real mermaid."

"Huh?" Lidian looked from Casey to the mermaid in confusion.

Shaking her head in exasperation, the mermaid rolled over onto her stomach. "Help me out of this thing."

Casey hurried over. Only now did Lidian realize how similar the two girls looked, and felt like an idiot.

"So, how's it handle?" Casey asked, unzipping the tail.

"Great. You were right about the foot pedal; once you get the hang of it, swimming's a lot easier, even if it's heavy." She climbed out and body-shivered in the breeze. "You forgot the towel, didn't you?"

"No, it's over there." Casey waved in the direction she'd come from.

Lidian looked around, and saw a blue-and-green towel lying on the rocks. Reaching over, he grabbed it and walked over to the girls. The fake mermaid accepted it gratefully, wrapping it around her chest.

"Violet Wildman," she said, holding out a hand, which Lidian shook. Her grasp was firm, but brief. "You've already met my sister."

Casey, who was studying the tail, glanced up at the mention and waved. "Hi, Lidian! Sorry about earlier, I just like messing with people."

"It's okay. I'll get rid of the photos," Lidian added.

"Actually, if any of them turn out good, I'd like to see them. I'm trying to put together a portfolio," Violet replied.

As she spoke, a wind picked up, accompanied by a faint rumble, like thunder. Lidian glanced up, and saw something dark swoop overhead. Then another, bigger and closer. In fact, there were a lot of the things coming. He stared, as did the girls.

"That looked like a spaceship," Casey pointed out.

"Run!" Lidian shouted, and scrambled down the rocks. It was the 1999 invasion all over again—or worse.

He stopped and looked back, but the Wildman girls were already making their way down as quickly as they could. Reaching the beach, Lidian broke into a run. Before he'd even reached the parking lot, he heard a whistling shriek, and the sand in front of him erupted outwards, flinging him flat on his back.

Half-stunned, Lidian saw more ships zipping around overhead. Somewhere nearby, someone was screaming. A shadow fell across him, and his eyes widened at the sight of the fanged green monster. It laughed at him, flecking his face with cold green slime.

oZo

Trivia: The first transition between this and the original included Lord Zedd as the primary mentor, having new powers granted by the Zeo Crystal which he'd have to master. Rita would have undergone the same experience and started on the path that eventually made her the Mystic Mother. However, I decided that this was a little bit of a Deus ex Machina, it had enough weight to be a story all by itself, and Alpha 5 might get a chance at character development if he was the primary mentor instead.


	2. Aries: Red Skies

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, whether it's Zeo or any other series.

I've noticed a couple of Lost Ninjas readers over here. While I have your attention, I'm going to be uploading some deleted scenes and extras from that fic on the Power Rangers Fanon Wiki. If you're curious about bits of character background I never revealed, the sequel fic, or bits of character background that could end up in the sequel fic, check it out.

oZo

Violet and Casey ducked behind a rock as one of the marauding ships flew too close, and a laser blast sprayed them with flecks of stone. Screams and yells for help rang out from the beach, where most of the attackers' attention was focused. The civilians kept trying to run or hide, but the monsters' ships just wheeled around them, keeping them from getting away.

"Vi, I don't think they're trying to kill us," Casey said. Violet gave her a look as if she'd just claimed that she was made of cheese. She pointed. "They're herding everyone together—like they're sheepdogs or something."

"That's comforting. We're not going to be slaughtered, we're being rounded up for alien experiments or something!" Violet snapped. The duo ducked another close shot from a passing ship.

"If we could just get everyone away from them, where they can't fit their ships . . ." Casey said, frowning thoughtfully at a passing ship.

A volley of lasers peppered the ground at their feet. Casey yelped and clutched at her leg, falling down as Violet dragged her back. Looking down at her ankle, Casey blinked through her watering eyes and saw a nasty red burn just above her shin.

"Okay," Violet said. "I'll try to organize everyone, you get to the car."

"What do I do—"

"Drive it over here, see if you can keep the ones on the ground running, maybe pick up some of the other civilians. Don't give me that look, I know you know how."

Casey swallowed back the tears. "Right."

More shrieks and screams rang out from further up the beach, where the other civilians were being rounded into one large group. A few ships circled them, keeping everyone in place, while the rest chased stragglers. More of them were landing now, forming a ring around the cluster of people.

"Three, two, now!" Violet sprang out and darted along the rocks, bounding like a deer.

Casey, less graceful but still fast, scrambled up the beach towards the parking lot. A few shots followed her up the slope, kicking up hot spurts of sand. Their car—or rather, Dad's pickup—was alone in a corner. Reaching it, she hauled herself inside, slammed the door and fumbled for the keys.

The car engine rumbled to life, and Casey sent it forward onto the sand. It wasn't made for the terrain, and slid in the sand, but she kept it going forward until she hit a rocky part of the beach. Bouncing in the seat, Casey looked around for a target. A monster was just hauling a struggling man into his ship. Casey gunned the engine, rumbling towards them.

At the very last second, the monster saw her and threw himself aside. Casey spun the wheel, and banged the fender on the monster's ship. Backing up, she vroomed towards the monster, and felt a surprisingly satisfying thud as he hit the front bumper. Leaning across the passenger seat, she swung the door open.

"Hey, you!" She yelled at the man. "Get in!"

He stumbled towards her, catching the door and throwing himself inside. Slowly, the monster started to get up, and Casey hit the gas. The car jolted as it ran the monster over forwards, then backwards. The booms and clangs made Casey wince.

"Okay, now trees," she said, looking around. "Aha, trees!"

Jerking the wheel hard to the right, Casey headed for a cluster of trees on the shore. From here she could already see Violet heading that way, several other civilians in tow, and grinned. Maybe this was going to work out after all.

oZo

Lidian let his captor throw him into the back of his small spaceship, nearly on top of another girl about his age. She was unconscious and unable to get out of the way, so Lidian scrambled back and curled up, hands covering his head. The act worked; the monster let out a snort of contempt, and climbed into the cockpit. As it fumbled with a coil of rope, something bleeped in the console.

"Oh, what now?" Dumping the rope on the floor, the monster sat down, hitting a button. "Ectopore here, this had better be important."

"What's taking you so long?" The sound was so bad that Lidian couldn't tell whether the caller was male or female. "They're unarmed civilians, just grab a couple and head up."

"Ever heard the phrase 'not as easy as it looks'?" Ectopore snapped. "Plus we're trying to catch them unhurt, and we're running out of nonlethal weapons!"

"I didn't call to hear excuses, Ectopore."

Peeking through his fingers, Lidian scanned the console, looking for something familiar. The buttons and labels were completely alien. As Ectopore argued with his commander, Lidian sneaked an arm around the seat and picked up the fallen rope. He took a deep breath, calculated, and then threw out a loop.

"Look, I've got two now so stop whining—" Ectopore cut off with a grunt as Lidian jerked him back against the seat. He struggled, but Lidian jumped around in front of him, winding the rope around his body and the chair. With a furious snarl, Ectopore spat slime at Lidian, catching his shoulder. The green stuff began burning through his shirt. Hastily, Lidian planted a foot on Ectopore's throat and swatted the slime away.

"Ectopore? Ectopore, what's going on?" The communicator crackled.

As Ectopore choked and gurgled, Lidian finished tying him up, forcing the ends of the rope into his mouth for good measure. That done, he climbed over the seat to check on the other prisoner. She was breathing, and she stirred. Lidian slid her over his shoulder in a fireman's hold, and began climbing out of the ship. Her weight made him double over, but he hit the ground running, and headed for the water. It was the closest safe spot he could think of. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a monster heading for him, but a battered truck flattened the creature before he even had time to worry about it.

Halfway down the beach, another sound became clear through the laser fire and yelling: a high-pitched wail. Lidian looked around, and saw a little red-faced boy bawling by himself. Quickly, he swerved and reached out for the toddler, scooping him up with his free arm without even slowing down. That drew a startled shriek from the toddler, but Lidian just hugged him and ran into the lake.

The water was startlingly cold. Lidian waded up to his chest—high enough for the toddler to get wet and let out a squeal—and headed for the rocks. He shifted his grip on the unconscious woman, towing her so her head was above water. It took the strain off his shoulder, but his arms were already starting to hurt. A glance back proved that nobody seemed to be paying attention to him anymore. The toddler was still crying, so Lidian hefted him higher, out of the water, and started making soothing noises. The kid clung to his shirt, and began to calm down, though he still hiccuped with sobs.

Letting out a long breath, Lidian looked back towards the shore. The monsters' ships were starting to take off now, though plenty of them still swarmed through the air, and some were coming back. Most of the civilians seemed to be heading into the lake, like him, or fleeing into woods. The ships tried to chase them, but couldn't fit through the trees. For a minute, Lidian thought they were going to escape—then the ships started shooting. The forest quickly ignited, and a smoky haze smudged the sky.

With a whistling shriek, one of the empty spaceships on the ground exploded. Everyone looked up as bits of burning metal rained down on the beach. A red streak shot through the air, and another ship exploded. The others began pursuing the red thing, which whirled and zipped away from the forest to the middle of Angel Grove Lake.

Lidian stared upwards in confusion. The red streak finally paused long enough for him to get a good look, and he heard other people start to shout in excitement. Lidian recognized it just as they did: a phoenix-shaped Zord, the one used by the Red Zeo Ranger three years ago. He whooped, startling the toddler. The Power Rangers were back!

As the civilians left their hiding places, the ships either headed into space or chased the Zord around the lake, colliding, accidentally shooting each other, and dropping out of the sky in flames. Some the giant bird blasted or slashed apart, some it only winged, making them crash on the shore. The Zord picked them out of the air like a bat snatching moths. Within twenty minutes, it was all over. The civilians went wild.

Lidian swam back to shore, as did the other civilians. His fingers and toes were going numb, and the going was slow with his hands full, but he didn't even care. However, the thrill of seeing the battle was tinged with worry—where were Violet and Casey? He looked around, but couldn't see them among the other survivors.

Finally reaching the shore, Lidian dragged the woman up the beach and set her down. The toddler's mother finally found them, extricating her son and thanking the teen over and over. He managed a few "it's fine, don't mention it"s, and once she was away, rolled his shoulder around with a wince.

The Red Zord's shadow passed over Lidian. Taking one final loop around the lake, to make sure it hadn't missed anyone, it winged off towards the desert. Lidian watched it go, wondering where the others were.

"That was AWESOME!" Casey yelled directly behind him, making him jump.

"Casey!" He wheeled on her, and saw her burned ankle. "Are you okay?"

She made a dismissive gesture. "Don't worry about it, it doesn't even hurt anymore. What happened to you? You're soaked."

"Hid in the lake. You? And where's Violet?" Lidian asked.

"Making sure everyone got out of the wrecks okay," Casey said. "She's kinda in charge until the cops show up, I think."

Lidian started wringing out his T-shirt. The adrenaline was fading, and he realized he was shivering. In the distance, he could hear sirens, and guessed the police were on their way. Probably the fire brigade, too; the woods were still burning.

"That Zord looked familiar," he said.

"Yeah, it did." Casey thought for a minute. "Zeo? That's the last set I remember with a bird."

"I think you're right." Lidian sighed. "Here we go again."

"Yeah. Did you see me in the truck?" Casey asked, becoming excited again. "It was like bumper cars, but with a real car and a bunch of monsters!"

Lidian stared. "You were the one in the car?"

"Yep! But don't tell anyone, I don't have a license yet," Casey added in a conspiratorial tone.

The woman Lidian had saved let out a quiet groan, and Lidian turned back to her. "Can you hear me?" She nodded a little, eyes shut. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Can I help?" Casey asked.

"Go get the paramedics, when they show up," Lidian told her.

"Okay!" Casey dashed away.

oZo

The far side of the Moon was pockmarked with craters left by space debris. Inside one of the deeper pits, those Windjammers who'd made it back had landed their ships. Some of them were still transferring prisoners to the main ship, flying in and out of the main hangar. All of this was visible from the bridge, on the rear of the prison ship, where Aries and Ophiuchus were catching up on the eleven thousand years since his imprisonment.

" . . . fighting a team of Power Rangers?" Aries was just saying. He let out a bleating laugh. "Scorpius will have his tentacles full."

"Do you think they'll ally with us? After all, we both want Scorpius dead," Ophiuchus said.

"They might, but I doubt it. If these Rangers were chosen by mystical powers like the ones you described—quasars, you said?—they'll probably be the type to protect their people, not conquer galaxies. It's a shame, though. We could use fighters of that quality."

As Aries finished speaking, footsteps slapped up the hall, and both monsters looked up in time to see the doors open. A Windjammer ran in, skidding to a halt just inside the doorway.

"What is it?" Ophiuchus asked.

The monster was out of breath, but he managed to get out two words: "Power Ranger."

"What?" Aries whirled on Ophiuchus. "You told me there were no Power Rangers on this planet!"

"There weren't! Not when I left my system or even when I arrived here!" Ophiuchus protested.

By now the messenger had regained enough breath to explain, and he did. "A Red Power Ranger came from nowhere, attacked us and freed the prisoners. We took off, but he teleported some of the others out before we could stop him."

"Some?" Aries asked.

"We saved fourteen."

Aries growled, and turned away. Ophiuchus gestured for the monster to leave, so he did, glad to escape without being punished for his failure. Silent, Aries accessed the ship's database, and began scrolling through incoming damage reports. Ophiuchus looked on.

"Just one Power Ranger was able to do that," the Zodiac Emperor said in a low voice.

"The Windjammers weren't expecting that kind of resistance. There's only one, and Power Rangers are creatures of habit. All we have to do is lure him out and destroy him," Ophiuchus replied.

Aries snorted. "You've never fought a Ranger, have you?" As Ophiuchus started to reply, he added, "Leave me, I want to think. Help those incompetents deal with the prisoners we have."

Ophiuchus said nothing, merely bowed and headed out. As his footsteps faded, Aries leaned back in the seat, looking thoughtful.

oZo

Trivia: In previous versions of the chapter, Casey had to blow things up to escape. Either it was a door aboard the prison ship itself, or Lidian's camera, which she turned into a flash bomb.


	3. Aries: Teenagers with Attitude

Disclaimer: Power Rangers still belongs to Saban.

oZo

Lidian sat in a corner table of the Surf Spot, reading. He'd never come here before, and upon realizing that he didn't know anybody here, he'd found himself unsure what to do. Eventually he settled for a book, which was admittedly pretty engaging.

"This isn't a library, honey," a female voice startled him, and he looked up to see an African-American woman looking down at him.

"Sorry," Lidian said, putting the book away. "Um, have you seen the Wildmans?" They asked me to meet them here."

"Oh, them? They're not here yet; usually show up around three. I'm Adelle, I run this place."

"I'm Lidian." He leaned forward to shake her hand.

"Don't think I've seen you around here before. How'd you meet the girls?"

"I . . . kinda mistook Violet for a real mermaid a couple of weeks ago at Angel Grove Lake."

Adelle laughed, and Lidian flushed. "I don't blame you there; she's trying out to become a professional mermaid since she was thirteen."

"Really? Has she had any luck?" Lidian asked.

"Ask her yourself," Adelle replied, nodding towards the front door.

Sure enough, Violet and Casey had just walked in. Lidian sat up sharply, and Casey spotted him. Beaming, she hurried over, Violet following.

"Sorry, we would have been here sooner but Mom and Dad have gotten nervous about us going places alone, after what happened at the lake," Violet said, taking a seat at the table.

"I don't blame them," Lidian said. "Adelle was telling me about your mermaid stuff."

"Oh?" Violet perked up a little, cautiously, the way people do when they get the chance to talk about something they love but very few other people are interested in. "Yeah, I've been trying to get into an agency for a while."

"No luck, then?"

"Not yet." Violet shrugged. "A lot of them aren't interested in high schoolers anyway—don't want to worry about my education and legal hours, stuff like that. It'll pick up, though."

"Right. Speaking of, I got the photos from the lake developed," Lidian said, unzipping the bag hanging over the back of his chair. "I remember you saying you wanted to see them."

Violet scooted her chair around to look as Lidian pulled out an envelope. The first ten or so photos were just of the lake, but Casey—looking over Lidian's shoulder—grabbed them as he tried to put them aside.

"These are cool," she said. "You're good at this."

Lidian shrugged. "I was just there at the right time, there's not much to it."

"Maybe you could take photos of the Power Rangers when they fight monsters and sell them to the newspaper, like Spiderman," Casey went on.

"I really don't think I'll have the chance to take photos, if there's a monster around," Lidian said, though he had a slight smile. "These are the ones I took of you."

Violet took the photos, and started laying them out on the table. Some of them were blurry and in-motion, but most of the ones of her sitting on the rocks were clear and sharp. Her eyebrows rose.

"Casey's right—these are good."

"It's nothing special," Lidian said, starting to look embarrassed.

"Can I use these? I'm trying to put together a portfolio," Violet said.

"Do whatever you want with them, they're of you."

"Thanks." Violet started arranging the photos on the table. Casey leaned over her shoulder, only for Violet to reach up and push her back with two fingers to the forehead. "Wait your turn."

"Hey, I'm the one who caught him in the first place!"

"Wait. Your. Turn."

"Fine. I'm going to get a drink." Casey started towards the counter, reaching into her pocket, and stopped. "I'm going to get my wallet out of the car." Off she ran.

"I like this one—water flying everywhere, but it isn't blurry. What kind of camera are you using?" Violet asked Lidian.

Before he could reply, a yellow flash startled both of them. They looked up, but the Surf Spot didn't look any different. It took him a second to realize that the running footsteps had vanished.

". . . Casey?" Violet said slowly, looking around. Her sister was nowhere to be seen, or even heard.

Lidian got up, sweeping the photos into the bag and looking around for Casey. Violet was already getting out of her chair.

"Maybe she's already outside?"

"Maybe." Violet hurried to the door, Lidian right behind her.

No sooner had they passed through the doorway than Lidian found himself enveloped in green light. He felt that weird bottom-dropping-out sensation that happens when an elevator starts moving, and the floor changed beneath his feet. When the light faded, he was almost blinded by darkness.

"Lidian?" That was Violet.

Blinking the big blue dots out of his eyes, Lidian looked around. Most of the light came from what looked like an electrical generator in the middle of the room. The dirty, trashed-looking room with piles of dirt and rubble on the floor. Hearing footsteps, he looked up to see Violet coming towards him, her shoes crunching on the debris.

"You guys are here too?" Casey's voice rang out from the darkness.

"What happened?" Lidian asked.

"I have no idea. This place looks weird, though." Casey turned towards a nearby table-like object, and quickly realized that it was a console. Shoving away pieces of concrete and tangled wires, she ran a finger along the cracked screen, and pushed a couple of buttons. Nothing happened; the whole console was dead. "And cool."

"This is bad," Violet said. "We're looking for a way out, now."

"This is high-tech stuff," Casey said, not really hearing her. "I mean, it's broken, but other than that—"

"NOW."

"First we have to figure out where we are," Casey said. With a grunt, she shoved a particularly large hunk of twisted metal off the end of the console. It clanged on the floor, making the other two teenagers jump. As Casey started examining the newly-uncovered panels, metallic footsteps clattered in the shadows.

"Is someone there?" Violet called, trying to sound stern.

Out of the darkness walked a robot—red and gold, shorter than Casey herself, with a flashing lightning bolt on his chest.

"An Alpha unit?!" Lidian exclaimed, startled.

"What was that?" Violet asked.

"Nothing."

"I am Alpha 5," the robot said. "This is the Power Chamber—or what's left of it, I'm afraid."

At this point, Casey interrupted Alpha with a loud squeal. Before he could react, she'd bounded around the console and was looking him up and down eagerly.

"A fully functional automaton! He is so CUTE! Look at his little hands!"

"Um, please don't do that," Alpha 5 said, as Casey tried to touch the lightning bolt on his chest.

"Casey, stop, you're making the robot uncomfortable," Violet put in.

"I am?" Casey paused, and looked again at the robot. Looking sheepish, she backed up a few steps. "Sorry. I just get really excited when I see cool advanced tech like you."

"Oh. I see, it's all right," Alpha said, still a little confused. "But I've brought all of you here for something very important."

"Why us? And why here?" Violet asked. "This place looks like a ruin."

"Someone else is coming," Lidian said quietly, and sure enough, Casey looked up to see a human-shaped figure walk out of the deepest shadows.

Into the light stepped the Red Zeo Ranger. All three teenagers went dead silent. Reaching up, the Ranger removed his helmet. Brown hair fell down his shoulders as he tucked the helmet under one arm. He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. Out of context, it took Lidian a minute to figure out why he recognized him.

" . . . David?" Lidian managed at last.

The Red Ranger gave a single nod in acknowledgment. "We're in the base the previous Power Rangers used before Divatox destroyed it. Right now, it's the best we can do. As to why you're here, you may have noticed that there aren't any other Rangers working with me just now."

"Wait . . ." Violet said, apparently guessing where this was going.

"You're recruiting us?" Casey interrupted. She bounced on her heels with excitement. "Are we going to be Power Rangers too?"

"If you accept my offer. As you can see, we aren't exactly prepared for a battle, and we won't even be fighting with a full team—the Pink Ranger powers are damaged," David replied.

"Who were those monsters who tried to kidnap everybody yesterday?" Lidian asked.

Alpha took over. "As far as we can tell, they work for beings known as the Zodiac Emperors. They were intergalactic tyrants thousands of years ago, and now they're trying to raise an army to conquer their old empires."

Casey stopped bouncing. Biting her lip, she looked back at Violet and Lidian. Her sister had that intent expression she always got before an important competition.

"Why us?" Lidian asked at last. "We're kids."

"Because you 'kids' were the only ones who fought back—and succeeded. I know this is asking a lot, and if you don't think you can handle it, I'll send you home, but I need people I can count on to never give up, with or without Ranger powers."

Nobody said anything for a minute. Something like a rat or a large insect skittered across the floor nearby. Alpha looked from David to the three teenagers and back.

"I'm in," Lidian said at last.

"Somebody has to do it," Violet added.

Casey grinned and looked around at the Power Chamber. "Give me a week and five hundred dollars, I'll get this place back into working order or my name isn't Casey Magnolia Wildman."

David finally smiled, and Alpha let out a sigh of relief. Lidian gave Casey a funny look, mouthing the word "magnolia," but Violet saw and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Good." Alpha moved behind one of the consoles, and came up holding a case, which he opened to reveal four sets of wrist-mounted morphers. One of them had been burned; the gold parts were discolored and cracked. Casey grabbed one of the other sets, which turned out to have black wrist straps on them. She strapped them on, and Lidian and Violet followed suit. They fell into a line.

As they did this, David stepped out of sight, but was quickly lit up from behind by a new, much brighter source of light. Turning, he revealed the Zeo Crystal glowing in his hands. He nodded once to Alpha, who hit a sequence of buttons. The Zeo Crystal floated into the air, and three of its segments separated, changing color as they hovered over Casey, Violet and Lidian.

"I don't feel right being the one to say this," Alpha 5 mumbled, but went on anyway. "Casey, your creativity and refusal to give up qualify you to become Zeo Ranger Two, Yellow. Violet, because of your quick thinking and ability to lead in a time of crisis, you have earned the powers of Zeo Ranger Three, Blue. Lidian, selfless and compassionate, you will be Zeo Ranger Four, Green."

As he spoke, an energy wave rippled down each crystal. A helmet materialized and lowered onto the Rangers' heads one by one, soon joined by a full suit. Casey spun around, trying to get a good look at herself, and let out an excited squeal. Lidian and Violet were less excitable, but equally awestruck, looking themselves and each other over as if they couldn't believe their eyes.

"Where do we start?" Violet asked, looking to David once more.

"I wasn't able to save everyone during the last attack, but we've traced the ship's energy signal to the far side of the Moon. We're going to need the Zords to face the Windjammers," David replied.

"Zords? We're going straight to Zords?" Casey asked, barely able to contain her excitement.

"As soon as you've been train—"

"The alarm is going off!" Alpha 5 interrupted, and everyone noticed the silent, flashing light. Hurrying over to one of the surviving consoles, Alpha pushed buttons for a few long seconds, before an image appeared on the viewscreen. For a minute, Lidian didn't know what he was seeing. It looked like empty sky—no, wait; something was falling, glowing like a meteorite. Now he made out more of the things, all zooming down towards the planet.

"They're heading for the NASADA base," Alpha 5 reported.

"We're dealing with this first, right?" Lidian asked.

"Let's go," was David's reply. "Back into action!"

oZo

When the Rangers teleported into the NASADA base, everything was in chaos. The falling things were making craters all around, and several fires already burned. As Violet looked around, one of the "meteorites" stood up and climbed out of the crater. It was seven feet tall, with a vaguely human shape, but made of rough-cut chunks of some kind of reddish gemstone. Instead of joints they had spaces of empty air, somehow holding their bodies together. Each step cracked the ground beneath them.

"What are those things?" Violet asked.

Alpha 5's voice came through her helmet. "Jewel Golems—non-living creatures created by the Emperors. There should be a weak spot somewhere on their bodies, it'll look like a flaw in the gem. Hit that and you'll destroy them."

Most of the scientists had sought shelter or fled—except for the ones who'd been grabbed by the monsters. The soldiers had given up shooting since their bullets only bounced off the attackers and hurt the humans.

"Zeo Laser Pistols!" David ordered, and the other three drew theirs.

One of the Jewel Golems, which had been menacing a scientist hiding behind the NASADA sign, stopped and turned towards them. All four Rangers opened fire; their lasers scorched the creature's jewel-like skin, drawing puffs of smoke and making it stagger. Catching itself on the sign with a clang, it faced them fully and began to march towards them.

"I don't think these are working fast enough," Lidian said, looking at his Zeo Laser Pistol.

"Go for your personal weapons," David replied. "Red Power Sword!"

With the weapon in hand, he charged the Jewel Golem. It swung an arm at him, but he caught it on the blade with a clang and burst of sparks.

"Good idea. Green Power Hatchets!" Swinging the two hatchets, Lidian charged for another Jewel Golem, which was attacking a couple of battered security officers.

"Blue Power Axes!" The weapons materialized in Violet's hands, and instantly she knew how to use them.

"Yellow Power Double Clubs!" Casey was about to follow the others, but halted as she looked at the weapons in her hands. "Hey, these aren't clubs, they're nunchuks."

"So?" Violet hurled an axe at one of the other monsters, striking it squarely in the back.

"Why are they called clubs? That's wrong."

"Behind you!" Lidian shouted at the girls, as he caught the Jewel Golem's arm in a hold.

Casey didn't even turn around, just swung a club up and back, striking the monster as it reached for her. Violet's quickly-thrown axe caught it in the head, and it staggered back.

"I mean, is there something wrong with nunchuks? They're just two sticks tied together with some string. Why not just call them what they are?"

"CONCENTRATE!" Violet yelled, charging past her to retrieve her Power Axe from the downed Jewel Golem.

"Oh, yeah, right—but I'm talking to Alpha about this," Casey said, turning to join her attack.

Swinging his sword back over his head, David brought it down on the Jewel Golem, slicing into it vertically. At the blow, the creature shattered into fragments, which fell like a shower of gemstones into the grass. That done, David ran to help Lidian, who'd just managed to take off his own opponent's forearm. Lidian saw him coming and moved aside, giving the Red Ranger room to jump and plant a solid kick in the monster's chest. It went down, and two solid blows from both Rangers made sure it stayed there.

Violet and Casey had just managed to take down a Jewel Golem of their own. With twin shouts, they struck at the monster from both sides, shattering it. They ran for the building and the sounds of struggle inside. The male Rangers followed hot on their heels.

Unseen by anyone, something barely visible, more like a distortion in the air than an actual object, moved nearby. Plants rustled as it hurried away from the battlefield, soon reaching a Windjammer ship. The cockpit opened, and once it had closed again, the distortion solidified and became visible as a monster.

"Sir? I have bad news about that Red Power Ranger . . ."

oZo

Trivia: Like last time, Lidian, Casey and Violet's Sentai counterparts were U.A.O.H. recruits who were transported into a parallel reality where Machine Empire Baranoia had conquered Earth, thanks to a laboratory accident. Most of that series' villains had been created from Baranoia experiments to guard and continue tests on Earth, hence the lack of technologically-themed bad guys.


	4. Taurus: First Test

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own ideas and OC's.

oZo

"How do you and David know each other?" Violet asked Lidian, as the two of them set down a chunk of debris in the increasingly cluttered passageway. Under Alpha's direction, they were clearing out whatever couldn't be repaired.

"We met a couple of years ago, and we hang out sometimes on the reservation."

"Cool. I've never been there," Violet said, heading back into the main chamber. An electric lantern sat on one of the cleared consoles (she'd brought it), casting stark shadows around the room.

"A shrink ray? That's awesome! Why didn't you guys use it more often?" Casey exclaimed, from where she was working on something set in the wall. "I mean, point it at the monster and poof, no more giant."

"It was never particularly stable—and we really just unlocked how to reverse someone else's shrink ray, not how to do it ourselves," Alpha replied.

"Do you need any help over there?" Lidian called, looping around a console to reach Casey and Alpha.

"We've got this one, thanks," Casey replied, not even looking around.

"I could use some help with this bar," Violet called from the far end of the room.

"Sure." Lidian joined the Blue Ranger, tucking the other end of the metal beam under one arm. As they maneuvered into the hallway, he glanced back at Casey. She was still working.

"We'll need somewhere more permanent to put this debris later," David called.

"Oh yes, you're right," Alpha 5 said, and hesitated, thinking.

Violet spoke up. "It could probably camouflage with the rest on the ground level."

Alpha 5 brightened at that. "Good idea! I can teleport it up once we're finished sorting it."

Something sparked, and Casey recoiled with a yelp. Alarmed, Lidian dropped his end of the metal beam with a clang and ran over to her.

"Are you okay?"

Casey fanned smoke away from the wires. "Yeah, but I think 'soon' is overestimating things a little bitty bit. Anybody got some paper?"

"I do." Lidian was already rummaging in his pockets, and he soon came up with a napkin and a pen, which Casey took and began scribbling on. "You're sure you're okay?"

Violet called from the doorway, in a strained voice, "I won't be if you leave me holding this thing for much longer."

Lidian started, and hurried back over to her with a sheepish look. Taking up his end of the beam, he helped her maneuver it into the passageway.

"By the way, she blows stuff up on a pretty regular basis, so don't worry about her unless she's actually on fire," Violet told Lidian as they set the beam down. "Though I'm glad you're concerned."

Lidian shrugged. "I have to live up to that 'selfless and compassionate' speech Alpha gave somehow."

A trace of a grin crossed Violet's face. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Lidian didn't make eye contact. Unnoticed by anyone, the alarm on the wall began to blink silently.

oZo

Aries sat in the center of the Zodiac Emperors' prison chamber. His breathing was heavy, and he seemed tired, almost older than he had been. He seemed to be watching one of the other coffins, as if waiting for something. The stars of the sarcophagus beside his gleamed faintly.

More than gleamed, actually. Ten drops of light began to glow, forming the pattern known as Taurus. Seeing the light, Aries straightened, now watching intently. A seam grew visible around the edges of the coffin, but nothing else happened.

"Monster!" He barked, and something jumped in the shadows. Out stepped Pitch, looking uneasy. Aries gestured at the coffin. "Do whatever it is you did last time."

"Nothing special," Pitch muttered, crossing the room to the coffin. He set his hands on the seam, and ooze flowed out of his fingers, seeping into the cracks. After a minute, something crackled in the coffin, and Pitch let go and backed away, before its occupant could do anything to him like last time.

The lid swung outwards, revealing a second creature even bigger than Aries. It was a minotaur—head like a large, black bull, body like a hairy bodybuilder. The Zodiac Emperor sigil marked a sash draped across one shoulder. Opening his eyes, he looked around, focusing at last on Aries.

"You look tired."

"I'm passing out of alignment," Aries replied. "But then I've slept too long. We should try to wake the others now; we have an army to raise."

Taurus stepped down from his cell, hooves clunking on the metal floor. He was easily ten feet tall. "Get started, then."

Aries looked to Pitch, who hurried to the next coffin in line. Footsteps echoed into the room, and Ophiuchus looked inside. Spotting the two Emperors, he hurried over. Nearby, Pitch let out a pleased grunt as the locks on the next coffin began to grind open.

"Earth Emperor Taurus! I knew you'd be coming into align—"

"Who is this?" Taurus snapped, looking to Aries.

"The one who orchestrated our rescue. Some descendant of Sagittarius," Aries replied. To Ophiuchus, he said, "What is it?"

Ophiuchus, looking rather crestfallen, took a moment to respond. "Oh, yes. I've just gotten a signal from some of our scouts—they've found some kind of underground hangar outside Angel Grove and are investigating."

Taurus started for the door, not so much as glancing at Ophiuchus. "Show me."

"Right away." Ophiuchus followed him.

oZo

"It's almost eleven. Anyone up for a break?" Lidian said, checking his watch.

"You can if you want," David replied, and hefted another broken computer onto his shoulder.

"Now's a good time," Violet replied. Wiping her dusty hands on her equally dusty pants, she joined Lidian in the middle of the room, and sat down on the floor with a groan. "Casey? Alpha?"

"I'm fully recharged, but thank you for the offer," Alpha 5 said.

"I'm good too—plus I haven't been carrying any big heavy stuff."

"Suit yourself." Violet got up and grabbed a water bottle from the corner where she'd left her coat. Taking a long drink, she plopped down beside Lidian again. Before she could say anything, she paused, and frowned a little. "How long has that light been on?"

Everyone looked, and saw the alarm light blinking steadily on the wall. Lidian sprang to his feet, and Alpha let out an alarmed "Ai-yi-yi!"

"What's setting it off?" David demanded, reaching the correct console before even Alpha had a chance to.

The little robot joined him a second later, typing in commands. The viewing screen flickered, and then displayed an image of a mountainside. A squarish robot stood on the slope, looking around nervously. Behind it, stone dust blasted out of a tunnel that shot down into the rock.

"What are they doing?" Violet asked.

"That mountain houses the Zord hangar," Alpha 5 replied.

David looked hard at the monsters, and then turned back to the middle of the room. "Let's go."

"Be careful, Rangers," Alpha 5 said, as the Rangers fell into line.

David raised his morphers. "It's Morphin' Time!"

_"Zeo Ranger Two, Yellow!"_

_A green energy grid covers Casey's body, and her suit materializes from the bottom up, finishing with her helmet._

_Zeo Ranger Three, Blue!"_

_A green energy grid covers Violet's body, and her suit materializes from the bottom up, finishing with her helmet._

_Zeo Ranger Four, Green!"_

_A green energy grid covers Lidian's body, and his suit materializes from the bottom up, finishing with his helmet._

_Zeo Ranger Five, Red!"_

_A green energy grid covers David's body, and his suit materializes from the bottom up, finishing with his helmet._

oZo

" . . . and in here are the prisoners we retrieved from Earth a few days ago," Ophiuchus said, stopping in front of a door.

He paused, but Taurus didn't wait for him. Going up to the monitor on the wall beside the door, the bull-like creature activated it, revealing a birds-eye view of the room. The fourteen civilians were scattered around the large cell, most sitting or lying down. They weren't aware of the camera.

Taurus snorted, looking unimpressed, and turned the monitor off again as he looked to Ophiuchus. "That's the best you could do?"

"The Windjammers weren't prepared for the Red Ranger to show up," Ophiuchus replied. "Now we won't be caught off-guard. We've already sent several agents to Earth to observe—"

"Move these people," Taurus cut him off.

"Sir?"

"Get them off this ship. The Rangers will try to rescue them at some point and we can't risk a battle inside our only base."

"Then what are we supposed to do with them?" Ophiuchus asked, looking bewildered. "Dump them in a lunar crater?"

Taurus paused for a moment, eyes narrowed in thought. "I'll open my labyrinth. They'll be secure there—and with luck, they'll start shaping up into an army. Actually . . ." He trailed off. Abruptly, he turned and clopped up the passageway.

"Emperor Taurus?" Ophiuchus hurried after him, confused.

"Get a couple of those Windjammer things, I've got a new plan to test out. Who knows, maybe it'll take care of those children who are causing you so much trouble."

oZo

The robot didn't hear the Rangers teleport in, thanks to the deafening drilling in the tunnel behind him. Getting the other Rangers' attention, Zeo Red moved behind a boulder, where the noise was softened enough for him to be heard.

"There must be another monster in the tunnel," he said. "We'll destroy this one with our Power Weapons, then go after his friend. Green, we attack from above, Pink and Yellow this side."

The other Rangers nodded or agreed, and summoned their weapons. However, as they started for their positions, a high whine sounded in the air. Out of the sky dropped blazing blue shafts, which blasted into the rocks around them. The Green and Red Rangers were flung down the slope, and Casey slammed hard into the side of the mountain. Violet ran to her side as she crumpled.

Out of the newly-formed craters climbed Jewel Golems. However, unlike the previous foot soldiers, these were sapphire blue. They didn't have blades on their arms; two large horns curved out of their heads. They started for the scattered Rangers. With an alarmed noise, the robot jumped into the tunnel.

Picking himself up, the Red Ranger lunged after the monster, swerving around a Jewel Golem as it barred his path. It tried to stomp him flat, but he slid aside just in time; the rock grazed his side as he dropped into the tunnel after the robot.

It was a dark, bumpy slide, but Zeo Red managed to stop himself. The drilling had stopped, and he could hear voices rising out of the darkness. Still holding his Power Sword, he began to climb down. Echoes distorted the voices, but he was able to make out some of the conversation.

"—should I know how close we are? I can't see through rock. What about your sensors?"

"All the metal in here is playing havoc with my sensors, Spinhead!"

"A little rock messes you up, and you have the gall to whine at me for not tunnelling fast enough?" Spinhead shrieked.

There was a pause, and David halted, not wanting to be heard. He was still too far away to see the monsters, though his eyes were adjusting to the darkness.

"Sorry," the other monster said, in a much quieter voice. "Nothing personal, buddy, I only just got away from the Rangers. I'm still shaking—look."

"I can imagine," Spinhead said, sounding calmer. "I'd better get started drilling again before one of the Zodiac Emperors notices. Which one's in charge again?"

"Beats me," Cark said. "Last I knew it was the crazy ram guy, but now there's some bull thing stomping around, giving orders."

The Red Ranger began to creep forward once more. A few loose stones skittered underfoot, and he froze.

"What was that?"

"This place is full of loose rock," Spinhead said dismissively.

"No, it was from up the tunnel," Cark replied.

"Like I said, loose rock. If it bugs you go back up and check it out, I'm going to finish this."

"Okay, okay, but I'm not going to get killed by any Ranger for a stupid distraction."

At the sound of that, the Red Ranger froze. He heard Cark struggling to climb back up the tunnel, grumbling under his breath, and then the drill started up again. Dust and rock blasted him flat. Losing his balance, he started sliding down the tunnel. He tried to stop, but slammed feet-first into something metal. They both tumbled down the passageway, slamming hard into Spinhead from behind. The drill clunked and clattered awkwardly against the rock, and everyone fell in a heap.

"Who's there—what's going on?" Cark was shrieking. Freeing an arm from the tangle, Zeo Red hauled back and punched in the direction of the voice. His fist met metal, hard enough to make his knuckles burn even morphed. That only made Cark squawk louder.

"Would you shut up for a second!" Spinhead yelled from beneath Zeo Red's left leg. "Let me up, you stupid hunk of metal!"

The Red Ranger kicked Spinhead in what felt like the shoulder, and began scrambling away from the pair. He needed some distance—and even though he didn't consciously think it, a more dignified position from which to reveal himself. His back met the wall of the tunnel almost before he was upright; he slid up it, feeling for his Zeo Laser Pistol.

"Something fell into me, and it wasn't a rock—it was a body!" Cark insisted, as he and Spinhead picked themselves up.

"Calm down, nobody's hurt," Spinhead talked over him. "If anything's in here, we'll find it."

Zeo Red pointed his Zeo Laser Pistol up at the ceiling and fired. The red laser lit up the tunnel like a lightning bolt, and both monsters recoiled from the Red Ranger. If he'd extended his arm fully he'd have been touching them.

"Don't try anything," he said, in as hard and commanding a voice as he could. "I could shoot both of you between the eyes before you had time to blink." Neither monster spoke. Emboldened Zeo Red went on. "You, Cark, you said something about a distraction earlier. If you explain I may let you live."

". . . You're the Red Ranger?" Cark said at last.

Irritated by the monster's incredulity, the Red Ranger jabbed him with the end of his Zeo Laser Pistol. "Yes, but all that matters right now is that I'm the one with the gun."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a voice echoed inside his helmet. It was Lidian, sounding confused and anxious.

"David? Where are you? Casey just disappeared. Violet's freaking out—"

Before the Red Ranger could even think of a response, what felt like a fist of metal slammed into his jaw, flattening him against the wall. The Zeo Laser Pistol went off again; the laser struck the wall, but the flash illuminated a metal tentacle extending from behind Cark. It held the Red Ranger against the wall, clawed ends digging into his suit.

"It'll take more than a little gun to stop the two of us, _David_," Cark sneered.

oZo

Trivia: This is my first series to have specialized chaptering. Each set of three episodes will constitute a mini-arc based on the Zodiac Emperor in power.


	5. Taurus: Enter the Labyrinth

Disclaimer: I can lay a tentative claim to ownership of the villains and some of the OC's but that's it. This isn't an attempt to declare Power Rangers mine.

oZo

Ophiuchus had taken over a long table in the prison ship's cavernous mess hall. Charts, data cards and thick books lay scattered across the tabletop, and occasionally he would grab one to pore over it, pausing only to type something into the computer screen at hand. He was so absorbed in this work that he didn't hear Pitch slog into the room, or enter the adjoining galley, until he knocked over a pile of metal containers. The clatter made him jump.

"What are you doing?" He demanded.

In answer, Pitch just groaned wearily. Marking his place, Ophiuchus rose and entered the galley to find Pitch sorting through sealed containers. They were all labeled in unfamiliar, jagged script.

"I'm hungry," the monster said, not looking up. "Guessing there's some food in here, since it's a kitchen and all."

"Don't you have supplies in your own ship?" Ophiuchus asked.

Pitch selected a likely-looking container and began trying to pry it open. He didn't even try to crack the lock. "Too little too far. Do you know how long I've been trying to get those Zodiac Emperors out of their coffins? Twelve. Hours. Straight. If I tried to ooze now I'd just melt into the floor."

Ophiuchus took the container from him, grasped either end, and twisted. It cracked open, and a little sweet-smelling syrup slopped out. He held it towards Pitch, who accepted it with a grunt of thanks. Putting the crack straight to his mouth, he started drinking the stuff.

"Did you finish? Are they all safe?" Ophiuchus asked.

"Dunno, probably, don't really care, they're not paying me either way. If you're so excited, why don't you go look for yourself?"

"They don't want me around." At Pitch's curious look, Ophiuchus clarified, "Taurus assigned me to 'do comparative research on past tactics and the state of the universe,' meaning read through thousands of files and take notes that I'm certain he'll never look at and will not be of any use to anyone. He's getting me out of the way, like an obnoxious child."

Pitch laughed a little. Lowering the box, he began prying it open further, revealing blue wedges of some kind of preserved fruit. He picked these out and started eating them.

"You're expecting too much. He's an Emperor; he's used to managing his own affairs. Plus he might resent you some. After all, you did something none of the Emperors could: release them. You're a reminder that he failed, hard."

Ophiuchus's anger faded, replaced with a look of mild surprise. ". . . I hadn't expected that kind of deduction from a Windjammer." Pitch gave him a look that said "really?", and he backtracked, "I mean, I'd have thought the smartest ones would rise to the top, and most of the leaders I've met are blockheads."

Pitch finished off the fruit, and sucked the remaining syrup off his oily fingers. "Nah. It's a lot safer to let the stupid people charge ahead. Take it from me; you don't want to be the one in charge. If something goes wrong, it's your fault."

oZo

Finally, the Viewing Globe was working steadily again—just in time to show Alpha exactly how much trouble the Rangers were in. He could barely see the Red Ranger underground, but he could hear the thuds and metallic booms as he struggled with Cark and Spinhead.

"Rangers, David needs help!" He said into the comms.

"Trying," Lidian said, though he sounded strained.

Alpha 5 switched to a topside view. There were only a few Jewel Golems left, but only the Green Ranger was still fighting them. Blue had dropped her weapons and was yelling at what looked like empty air.

"Casey, can you hear me? Casey!"

"Rangers," Alpha tried again, but nobody responded. The Blue Ranger lunged forward, but the Green Ranger quickly caught her by the waist and hauled her back.

"You'll just get sucked in too!"

Once again Alpha 5 looked at David's battle, just in time to see the Red Ranger slammed to the floor. He managed to force Cark's tentacle off, but he'd barely even sat up before Spinhead flattened him against a wall with his head. Alpha flinched at the audible thud and grunt from Zeo Red.

"Wait . . . if I can't bring the Rangers to them, I can still bring them to the Rangers!" Alpha 5 exclaimed. Quickly, he typed the commands into his console.

In a flash, all three—David, Cark and Spinhead—vanished out of the tiny cave. Alpha immediately switched back to the mountainside, and saw that the trio had landed in a heap. The Red Ranger was already extricating himself from the pile, and with a hand from the Green Ranger soon was free.

"Hey!" Cark shoved Spinhead aside and leaped up, only for red lasers to strike him in the chest. He fell back with a howl of pain. The Blue Ranger had drawn her Zeo Laser Pistol, and held it fixed on the monster. She advanced now, drawing her Zeo Laser blade and combining the two weapons into one. As Cark picked himself up, she started shooting again.

Spinhead moved to attack her, only to take a slash to the back from the Green Ranger's Zeo Power Hatchets. It stumbled and fell on its side, drill head whirling uselessly. Before it could get up, the blade of the Zeo Power Sword touched its neck.

"I wouldn't get up if I were you," the Red Ranger said.

The other two Rangers leaped into the air in unison, slamming their various axes into Cark's oncoming tentacles. One clawed end snapped clean off and fell, sparking, to the ground.

"AAAAGH! My claw!" Cark recoiled, clutching his tentacle stump in both hands. Blue coolant fluid ran over his fingers like thick blood.

Landing, the two Rangers struck fighting stances. Cark swung an upper tentacle at Lidian, who smacked it aside with a hatchet blow that gashed it open. Zeo Blue followed that up with a point-blank laser shot, shattering Cark's red, glassy left eye. Clamping one hand over his face, the monster screeched in anguish.

"Ready?" The Blue Ranger asked, looking to her teammates.

"Let's blow these guys away," Lidian replied.

"Hold your fire!" Zeo Red interrupted.

Zeo Green looked over at him. "What are you doing?"

Instead of responding, the Red Ranger reached down, grabbed Spinhead by the arm and hauled the creature to its feet. He shoved the monster towards Cark, and it stumbled into place.

"Back in the tunnel you two were talking about a distraction. What did you mean?" He demanded.

"Huh?" Spinhead asked.

"We're wasting time—let's get rid of these two and find Casey," the Blue Ranger said.

"Tell me what I want to know or I just might listen to the Blue Ranger," Zeo Red warned the pair.

"_Might_?" Zeo Blue demanded incredulously.

"Emperor Taurus sent us to keep you distracted," Cark managed at last.

The Green Ranger came closer to the pair. "Who?"

"He-he's in charge. Emperor Aries was last time, but apparently he needs his constellation to be near to have power, so now his turn is done a-and Taurus is in charge," Spinhead explained.

"Distract us from what?" The Red Ranger asked.

"The Labyrinth."

oZo

Casey landed flat on her face, bumping her nose against her visor. Sitting up, she looked around, but saw only blackness. She considered demorphing, since she'd taken to carrying matches and a few other useful things around with her, but decided not to. After all, there were probably monsters in here.

"That was weird," she said, and her voice echoed.

Instead, she started feeling around the floor. It was cold, lumpy and just a little slimy, like wet cobblestones. Casey got up, slowly, just in case the ceiling turned out to be really low or something. It wasn't. Arms outstretched, she felt for a wall, and soon bumped into one. It, too, was made of stone, but the slime was thicker. Keeping one hand on the wall, she started to walk.

And walk.

And skip a little, just to shake things up.

And walk some more.

Just as Casey was beginning to think the tunnel would go on forever, she heard a shriek somewhere ahead. It sounded like a woman. As if that had been a signal, a clamor of roars and shouts filled the air. Casey broke into a run, drawing her Zeo Laser Pistol.

"Hang on, I'm coming!" She yelled.

Unexpectedly, the wall drew away from her hand, and she skidded to a halt. A faint yellow light shone up ahead, just enough to illuminate shifting bodies, some gleaming like armor. Everyone was shouting at once.

"Hey!" Thinking fast, Casey fired a few warning shots straight up at the ceiling.

The red flashes lit up the scene like lightning; the creatures in the surprisingly wide cave before her were a bizarre variety of monsters. The yellow light was coming from a small, greasy fire in the middle of the room. At the sound of laser fire, the creatures scattered, fleeing out other tunnels Casey hadn't seen before. Casey ran inside, but they were all gone before she could stop them. Well, almost all of them.

Casey tripped over a prone body and went sprawling. Picking herself up quickly, she twisted around and saw that she'd fallen over a monster that looked like a giant owl. Its patchy feathers looked about ready to fall out, and what little armor it had was hanging by a few threads. It groaned.

Slowly, Casey got up. The monster didn't attack her, and now that she was looking more closely, Casey could see bloody patches in its feathers.

"Please don't hurt me, Power Ranger."

Casey jumped, belatedly realizing that the owl monster had spoken. She stood up, folded her arms, and made sure to speak in a commanding, Rangerly voice.

"I won't if you tell me what I need to know." The monster nodded, and Casey crouched down beside it. "Where are we?"

"Firepit Cave."

"Ah. Should I know what that is?"

The owl monster hesitated. "You don't know where we are?"

"Would I be asking if I did? One second I was outside, and the next," she made a vague gesture at the dark cave around them.

"We call it the Labyrinth. It's a maze created by Emperor Taurus. It used to be a prison, but nobody's been let out since . . . I don't remember."

Casey sat back on her haunches, and looked around the cave. She thought she could see tunnels. "What was going on?"

"Someone probably got fell into the Labyrinth. It happens sometimes, but there aren't many portals left. The Nightclaws took them."

"Right. Up," Casey said, standing and holding out a hand to the monster. "You can tell me more on the way."

The monster hesitated, so Casey reached down, grabbed its arm—surprisingly bony under the feathers—and hauled it upright. The owl recoiled.

"You want to follow the Nightclaws? Are you out of your mind?"

"Weren't you in a fight with them just now?"

"No, I just wanted to see what I could grab in the chaos. Nobody messes with the Nightclaws—they'll eat you alive!"

"Monsters are monsters. I can handle them," Casey said, although truthfully she wasn't sure she could.

"That wasn't exaggeration. We never got much food even before we were abandoned; now all we've got left is each other." The owl monster was backing away, out of the light.

Casey leveled her Zeo Laser Pistol at him, and he halted. She _really_ wished the other Rangers were here. "I don't care if you wanna wimp out, but you're going to show me where these Nightclaw creeps are first."

The owl looked like it wanted to run, and Casey wished she could cock her gun, but she just settled for taking a step forward. At last, it stopped and its shoulders slumped.

"Good, let's go. Which way?"

oZo

"The other Windjammers have been opening up portals all over this city," Spinhead said. "That's probably where your Yellow friend went."

"Don't talk about her that way!" The Blue Ranger snapped, storming forward and grabbing Spinhead by the shoulders. "If anything's happened to her—"

"That's enough." The Red Ranger's voice cut in like a knife, getting Violet's attention. He jerked his head towards a nearby slope. "Over there. When you've gotten ahold of yourself you can come back."

Even through the visor, it was clear that Zeo Blue was giving him a death glare. He matched it. At last, she shoved Spinhead back against Cark and stormed away to the slope, where she began pacing, arms folded.

The Red Ranger turned his attention back to his prisoners. "What about getting in and out?"

Spinhead shrugged helplessly. "Without Taurus's control, I don't think anything can leave."

Violet kicked a loose rock at the duo, and it bounced off Cark's head, making him yelp.

"That's not helping," the Red Ranger said.

Violet wheeled on him. "You don't even have siblings, do you?"

"That's neither here nor there. You can't help anyone, especially, the Yellow Ranger, by acting like this."

Before the Blue Ranger could reply, the Green Ranger stepped between the two.

"Guys, calm down, we'll solve this, there's no reason to pick a fight," he said. Violet still looked like she wanted to argue, so he moved closer and spoke in a lower voice. "I know, he comes off gruff and kind of heartless, but he's trying to help. This is how he acts when he's stressed."

The Blue Ranger didn't say anything. Turning towards the Red Ranger, Lidian addressed him. "You're setting her off by acting this way, we need her calmed down."

"Understood. You do that and I'll finish the interrogation," Zeo Red replied curtly. With a sigh, the Green Ranger headed back to Violet. Turning back, the Red Ranger eyed Cark and Spinhead, who quavered.

"We know plenty more about the Zodiac Emperors' plans," Cark said quickly. "It'd take hours—no, days—to tell you everything."

"Right, me too," Spinhead added. "You should keep us around—we won't try to betray you, promise."

The Red Ranger watched them in silence for a long minute. They tried to look innocent and trustworthy, not an easy feat considering their stiff, unappealing features. Then David's communicator watch went off.

"Yes?"

Alpha 5 spoke up, clearly excited. "I think I can help. I've dealt with hidden dimensions before, and some of the old equipment is still working!"

The Red Ranger looked around; his teammates had both gotten the message, and were watching him for orders. He faced the two monsters again. "I can't trust you enough to leave you alone, and I have nowhere to put you, so . . ."

He put a hand on the hilt of his Zeo Laser Sword, and they shrank back.

"You have my word as a robot—"

"Betray you? Never, not in a million years!"

"I have a better idea," Violet interrupted, coming forward. The monsters stared hopefully up at her. "Throw them in the Labyrinth. They can't hurt us there."

"What?" Cark exclaimed.

"Now, there's no need for that, let's not be too hasty here," Spinhead protested, but the Red Ranger nodded to his teammates, and they surrounded the pair.

"Look on the bright side," the Green Ranger said, grabbing one of Spinhead's arms as he tried to run. "Now you have a fighting chance."

"You call that a bright side?" Cark snapped.

"Trust me, I've had to accept worse."

oZo

Casey crouched behind a heap of fallen stone which had once been part of a wall. The owl monster was a few feet behind her, though he seemed very jumpy and eager to flee. Up ahead, smoky, faint torchlight illuminated a cavernous room, making its makeshift tents and lean-tos a jumble of angular, ragged silhouettes. Voices, both monstrous and human, carried from the middle of the room.

"How did you get in here?" One of the monsters demanded. "Are there more where you came from?"

"I don't know." The other speaker sounded like a teenaged guy. A very nervous teenaged guy.

Casey started creeping into the ramshackle village. Even through her helmet, it stank enough to make her gag. Something crunched underfoot; she made the mistake of looking down, and realized she'd stepped on a ribcage. Grossed out, she hurried on, this time keeping her eyes front.

A few monsters were in the lean-tos and tents around her, but most of them seemed to be asleep or wounded; the rest of the Nightclaws were in the middle of the room, with their prisoners. Casey was halfway in before she realized that she didn't actually have a plan. For a moment, she hesitated. Then she shrugged and went on. She'd come up with something once she'd made sure nobody was about to be eaten.

Now most of the Nightclaws stood only a few feet away. They all wore armor which looked like it had been cobbled together from several different places, and probably in the dark. In their midst sat a dozen or so civilians, tied up. Casey recognized them from news reports—they were the people who'd been kidnapped by Windjammers. The monsters had dragged one man out of the group and were all yelling at him.

"Has Taurus opened the prison?"

"What planet are you from?"

"Can't we just eat them?"

Casey decided enough was enough, and lowering her gun, took aim at the back of the hungry creep. Before he could say anything else, she pulled the trigger. Lasers spewed across the village, and she saw several monsters drop—hit or ducking for cover, she couldn't tell. One of the nearby tents caught fire, which only added to the chaos.

However, before Casey could go after the prisoners, something slammed bodily into her from behind, knocking her down. Feathery wings enveloped her as she struggled to get up, and her kicks and struggles only met armor.

"I've got her! I've got her!" Her captor yelled. "Someone get her gun!"

"You RAT!" Casey yelled, realizing who'd attacked her.

A boot came down on her wrist, grinding her hand into the floor. She lost her grip on her Zeo Laser Pistol, and someone else snatched it up. Multiple monster hands caught her by the shoulders and arms and dragged her upright. She kicked the owl in the shins before someone else grabbed her legs.

"A Power Ranger," the monster holding her gun said. The only thing that distinguished him from his motley fellows was his helmet; it had horns, but one had broken off near its base. "Good job, Bladebeak. Haven't seen one of you in hundreds of years," he added to the Yellow Ranger.

"Well, then, take a good look, because you won't get get another chance," Casey retorted. "Also that gun won't work on me since it's mine." In answer, the horned monster simply pointed the gun at the prisoners. Casey drooped. "Jerk."

"Tie her up."

oZo

Trivia: Generally I don't like to use capslock, and I'm still a novice when it comes to deciding whether or not it's appropriate. Casey is the first character I've had who positively demanded caps.


	6. Taurus: Mazes and Monsters

Disclaimer: I don't own anything previously disclaimed.

oZo

"Tell me you've found something," Violet said over the communicator.

"Fortunately, I have," Alpha 5 replied, as he dragged a pair of what looked like plastic free-standing lights, wound together with cords, out of one of the auxiliary passages. With a grunt of effort, he dropped it on the floor. "Billy—our first Blue Ranger—developed a device to access Rita's Dark Dimension. It's been some time since I've tried to use it, but it should still work. We'll need to set it up at the location of the other portal to find the coordinates."

"Why not just use the portal they have?" Lidian asked.

"It's a one-way portal," Alpha 5 replied, already typing commands into the computer. "It'd be much safer to create one we could control. I'm bringing the equipment now."

He hit a final button, and he and the machinery vanished in white flashes. The mountainside was much brighter than the Power Chamber, and it took Alpha 5's optical sensors a moment to adjust to the change. Once he had, he immediately went to collect the machinery, and was joined by David and Lidian.

"We've found what we think opened the portal," the Green Ranger said, and pointed up the hill. "See that shiny gold thing?"

Sure enough, a small, round device was blinking amid the rocks.

"That might just be what we need to pinpoint the coordinates," Alpha 5 replied.

"Great! Should I try to get it?"

"Yes, but be careful. The last thing we need is for you to get sucked in too."

Lidian headed off, leaving Alpha and David to set up the device. The Red Ranger was much less optimistic than his teammate.

"Do you think this will work?"

"It has before," Alpha 5 replied.

"That's more than we can say for ourselves," the Red Ranger muttered.

"You're doing fine," Alpha 5 reassured him in a low voice. "Even the most experienced Rangers get caught by surprise sometimes."

David nodded towards Violet as the two of them raised the machine's poles upright. "Tell that to her."

"Why don't you?"

"Huh?"

"If the two of you have a problem, you're the best people to resolve it," Alpha 5 said.

"This isn't the time."

Alpha 5 looked from David to Violet and back. "If I'm not being too rude, I think this is the only time. You're going to need teamwork to win this battle."

With a sigh, David steadied the pole, and headed over to the Blue Ranger. She saw him coming and halted, not coming closer but not moving away either.

"Is Alpha almost done?" Violet's tone was curt.

"I think so. Look . . ." he searched for the right words. "We're going to find Casey and bring her back."

"And then what? We go out and fight some more, and someone else vanishes. Or gets hurt. Or killed. Any second," she snapped her fingers, "bam, dead."

"I told you this might happen when I first recruited you."

"Yeah, you mentioned it, while showing us superpowers and cool weapons," Violet retorted. "Reality's different."

"Does that mean you don't want to do this?" David asked, sounding resigned.

"What? No—I just . . ." Violet shrugged helplessly. "I don't know! It's just not what I expected!"

"Sorry."

Violet didn't say anything else, just glanced over at Alpha 5 and Lidian. They seemed to be having trouble setting up the device.

"I know what it's like," David said, so abruptly that Violet jumped. "What it's like having a sibling who's a Power Ranger. So I can understand what this is like for you."

"Really? And here I was thinking you were a robot."

David's fists clenched involuntarily. "Would you—" he stopped himself, and spoke in tense, measured tones. "I am _trying_ to solve this. Cooperate with me."

"Relax, it was just a joke. Besides, I already know that robots have emotions just like normal people."

"Rangers!" Alpha's plaintive shout was right on cue, and the two Rangers hurried to join him.

"More monsters," Lidian said as they came in close enough to hear. "They're all over the city—setting up more portals, Alpha thinks."

David didn't say anything, but Violet threw up her hands. "Why now?"

"Cark and Spinhead _did_ say it was a distraction," Lidian put in.

"Don't remind me," Violet groaned. "What do we do?"

"If I could make a suggestion," Alpha 5 began timidly, but hesitated when all eyes turned to him. "That is, unless you have a plan . . ."

"You're the experienced one," Lidian said.

"Right. I think two of you should use the Zords to deal with the other Windjammers and one should go after the Yellow Ranger, once I have this portal ready."

The three Rangers looked at each other, all thinking the same question: who would stay and who would go?

"Lidian," David said at last, "You find Casey."

"What?" He and Violet exclaimed.

"We don't have time to argue. Violet, I need your help in the Zords," David said, his patience worn to the breaking point.

"I've never used one of the things and that's MY sister!"

"Which is exactly why I want you with me and not risking your life and hers because you're upset!" David's voice rose to a shout. "This is an emergency and I will not tolerate any more arguments because, believe it or not, I want Casey back alive and well too! IS THAT CLEAR?"

". . . clear." Violet was subdued.

"Let's go."

Violet started to follow the Red Ranger, but Lidian caught her arm. "I'll bring her back or not come back at all," he said.

She softened. "You don't need to go that far."

"It's nothing."

"No, it's not. Thank you."

Lidian just nodded and released the Blue Ranger, letting her hurry after David.

oZo

"What planet are you from?"

"Earth."

"How did you get here?"

"I think it was a portal."

"Are there any other Power Rangers?"

"Yeah, three of them, and word of advice: don't mess with me or any of those guys," Casey said, jerking her head towards the human prisoners. She couldn't point because her hands and feet were tied. "My team will kill you guys really, really hard."

Her interrogator, the monster with the Viking helmet, snorted. "I think we can take care of ourselves."

"Yeah, but you don't have any way out, do you? Betcha they will when they try to rescue me. Probably safer not to get on their bad side."

"What makes you so sure they'll save you?"

"Well, one of them is my big sister, so she always looks out for me, and one of them is David, he wants to save everybody, and Lidian's just a super nice guy, so yeah, they're going to rescue me," Casey concluded, grinning up at the monster.

"If they don't, you'll regret it, little girl."

"I am not a little girl!" Casey protested, outraged. "I'm fifteen years old and a superhero! When I get loose I'll show you!"

Without replying, the monster rose and gestured to one of his subordinates, who caught Casey around the waist and picked her up, swinging her over its shoulder. The "wheee!" from her made it pause, but it shook its head and carried her to a small pen in the corner.

It had been dug into the wall, with the loose stone piled up into a single curving wall. The top was covered with wood and a heavy, dark fabric, which the monster pulled aside to drop Casey in by. She landed on her side with a grunt.

"Hey, what's the point of putting me in a prison, when all of us are just inside a giant prison?" Casey asked, sitting up. The monster covered up the pen without replying. "Huh? You don't have an answer for that, do you?"

"Don't bother. They won't listen." The voice didn't belong to a monster; it was softer, human-sounding and quietly bitter. Casey looked around for the speaker, and realized it was the nearest of the other captives. As her eyes adjusted, she saw a lean teenager with a weary, numb stare and bony limbs that poked out at awkward angles.

"Oh, hi." Casey scooted over to him. "You say something?"

The boy looked her up and down. "You're a Power Ranger?"

"Yup! I'm the Yellow Zeo Ranger."

"We're all going to die."

"Don't talk like that. Look." Casey brought her arms forward, holding the now-untied rope that had been fastening her wrists. "I got out already, and the other Rangers aren't even here yet!"

"Be quiet, they'll hear you!" The other prisoner said in a harsh whisper.

Casey lowered her voice. "Okay." She slid over to him and began messing with his bonds. "What's your name?"

". . . Dylan."

"Hi Dylan, I'm Casey. Don't tell anybody I'm the Yellow Ranger when we get back, okay? My Dad would freak out."

Dylan didn't say anything in response. Casey got him free, and quickly untied her own feet, though she kept the ropes just in case she needed to pretend to be tied up later.

"I'll see if I can get anyone else untied. Then we can run when the cavalry shows up," she said. "Hey, cheer up, we're getting you out of here."

"And then what? The monsters will just take us back later."

"Not if I can help it."

"But you can't, can you?" Dylan looked up at Casey, who'd started scooting around him to untie someone else. "You're just as stuck as we are."

"Yeah, but I've got a bunch of friends who are smart and powerful and way better fighters and planners than me. Once they get here we're good," Casey said confidently. "Then I'll be able to work on rescues myself—but I still want to give this 'untie everybody and run away' thing a shot, if you're in. Are you?"

". . . Okay."

Casey beamed at him. "Thanks. I'll do better this time. Cross my heart and hope to . . . why do they say 'hope to die'? Who hopes to die? I wanna live. Do you?"

"Yes."

"Good. Let's get to work on that, then!"

oZo

"Blue Ranger, I've detected another ship heading in near Stone Canyon. Can you handle the ones here?" David's voice came over the Zord comms.

Zeozord III bit down on a Windjammer ship. Sparks and coolant fluids sprayed from it as the metal contorted. When the Blue Ranger spoke, it was with confidence. "I've got this."

"I knew you would."

"Wait, what?" Violet demanded, but Zeozord V was already flying towards Stone Canyon.

Opening its mouth, Violet's Zeozord dropped the Windjammer ship to the ground, where it exploded. The Blue Ranger sprang out of her Zord, landing lightly, and sprinted over to where the portal generator had been set. She soon saw it, attached to the arch of a bridge and blinking rapidly. Drawing her Zeo Laser Pistol, she opened fire. The device exploded in a small fireball, sending flaming bits of metal and wire in every direction.

That done, Violet headed back to her Zord. "Alpha, where to next?"

"David is already pursuing the last of the Windjammers, but you should probably stay on guard in case more arrive here."

"Right." The Blue Ranger teleported back into the cockpit, and used one of the sphinxlike Zord's massive forepaws to stomp out a fire in the grass below. "Have you heard from Lidian?"

"The communicator watch's signal isn't strong enough, I'm afraid." Alpha was too patient to remind Violet that she'd asked the exact same question, and gotten the exact same answer, ten minutes ago.

"I know. Tell me as soon as you hear anything, okay?"

"Of course."

oZo

Casey had just finished untying the last of the other prisoners when she heard angry voices outside. Dylan, who'd found a chink in the side of their prison, was watching intently. She joined him for a peek. The horned monster was arguing with a shorter creature in what looked like Samurai armor and a demon mask.

"You said we could divide them up as soon as we had what we wanted! We've questioned all of them and they don't know a thing! We've got the Power Ranger; let's cook the rest and save her for later! None of them are doing us any good as they are now."

"Who do you think you are, giving orders just like that?!" The stag-horned monster roared. "I'm in charge, and I decide when we eat, just like always!"

"Maybe someone else should be in charge. Times are changing and you aren't!"

"Guys, I think this is our cue to leave," Casey stage-whispered to the other prisoners. "Just stick to the plan."

"You've been waiting for something like this, haven't you? Don't think I haven't seen you, always scheming behind my back."

"What if I was? You'd let all of us starve with food in our laps."

"And you'd gorge yourselves now and starve after a week."

Casey had been rolling back a corner of the prison's cover. Now she slithered up and out of it, crouching behind it so none of the monsters could see her. She waited a moment, but nobody shouted in alarm or reacted to her, so she scuttled towards the nearest lean-to. It was empty, and she ducked inside it. there she found some small bone knives and a few rusty shuriken.

With this loot, she crawled back to the pen and rapped on the wall. Out climbed another teenager—Dylan—to whom she gave one of the knives. He crawled off, and out came the next prisoner, whom Casey also armed.

By now the argument had drawn the attention of the other Nightclaws, and they were yelling and even starting to push each other around. Casey smirked and handed another shuriken to one of her escapees. One by one, they slipped from hiding place to hiding place just like she'd planned. Soon the last one was out, and she crawled after them.

However, as she ducked into one of the lean-tos, she came face-to-face with a beak and a feathery, beady-eyed face. It was Bladebeak.

"Did you really think nobody was going to notice that?"

Casey lunged at him, wrapping both hands around the monster's scrawny throat, and the lean-to collapsed on top of them. With a yell, Casey tried to roll free, but only got both of them tangled up in the ragged cloth.

"FIGHT!" Somebody yelled, and the monsters obeyed with gusto.

A few solid kicks to the stomach area forced Bladebeak away from Casey, and she sprang to her feet. Tearing off the tent, she threw it away and looked around. Monsters wrestled, swordfought and shot at each other all throughout the camp. Several lean-tos were already on fire. Even the ones who weren't interested in the power struggle had gotten involved to protect their possessions.

Casey bolted, charging through the camp towards the other side. She saw a couple of monsters turn and make a grab for her, but she ducked and avoided them. A laser seared the air next to her head, and she threw herself behind a lean-to as more shots followed. Catching her breath, she charged on, ducking and swerving and jumping, until she'd reached the far side, where her rescuees were waiting.

"One, two, three, four, Dylan, six, seven, eight, nine, ten eleven twelve thirt fourt fifteen!" Casey rattled off breathlessly. "Good, everyone's here. Go hide out there, I'll find you."

"What about you?" Dylan asked.

"I have to find my morpher. Get going!"

"There you are."

A metal gauntlet clamped down on Casey's shoulder, and she just had time to glimpse the horned monster glowering at her before he threw her into a wall. It jarred her shoulder all the way down, and she landed in a heap. Before she could pick herself up, the monster caught her by the arm and kneed her in the chest once, twice, three times. Each blow knocked a grunt out of her, and her attempts to shield herself just got her forearms gashed by the monster's armor.

Wrapping one thick hand around Casey's throat, the monster pinned her to the wall. Her toes dangled a full foot above the ground, and she choked, clawing at his hands.

"You think you can escape the Nightclaws with a foolish trick? I am Herne the Hunter. I will track down each of those humans one by one and make them wish they'd never been born. Your punishment will be to watch," the monster hissed.

"I'm killing you first," Casey managed through the choke hold.

Herne just laughed. He hauled back his free fist for a blow, and Casey twisted away in anticipation, but the punch never came. Instead, a green hatched slammed into Herne's back. His grip on Casey loosened, and she freed herself, landing in a sloppy crouch. He dropped to his knees with a metallic crash, and one of Casey's Zeonizers tumbled out from under his robe.

Lidian tore his Zeo Power Hatchet out of Herne's back and hurried to Casey's side, helping her up. She let out a shaky laugh of relief.

"Are you okay?" He studied her quickly.

"Yeah, thanks—but I'm not alone."

"I know, I met them down the passage, they're on their way out already," Lidian reassured her.

"Oh good." Casey looked down at Herne, and moving out of Lidian's grip, picked up her morpher. The other she pulled out of his belt, but the monster caught her by the wrist.

"I will hunt you down, I swear," Herne hissed.

"No, you won't. Oh hey, I can keep my tough-guy boast!" Strapping the morphers on, Casey brought them together. "It's Morphin' Time!"

oZo

Trivia: The "prison full of monsters who are out of control but trapped and start forming factions/eating each other" was originally intended for a later part of this fic, then Ground Squadron briefly, before settling here.


	7. Gemini: Brothers in Arms

Disclaimer: Power Rangers still belongs to Saban.

I am sorry I've been doing things so last-minute lately. Between new projects and a few older ones that have resurfaced unexpectedly, I've been having a little trouble keeping up with everything.

oZo

"Emperor Taurus—"

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

Ophiuchus ducked just in time; a metal chair hit the doorframe where his head had been a moment before. Taurus was shaking, apparently with anger, and looked ready to keep throwing things.

"See? I'm still strong! I don't have to be in perfect alignment to fight."

"I see that, sir, but it's not about strength, it's the balance of power—"

"Don't condescend to me, you child! We can worry about the balance of power after we actually _have_ some power! Right now we need everything we can gather, and I'm the only one who's actually contributing something. What's Gemini done since he woke up? Plot in that pitiful laboratory he's sharing with Cancer. I'm the one who's actually gotten us a small army thanks to my Labyrinth. If Gemini has a problem he can take it up with me, now GET OUT!" He bellowed.

Ophiuchus saw that argument was useless. He slipped out of the room. Once the door was shut, he shook his head.

"Stubborn," he muttered. "He'll get us all killed before he gives up his place willingly."

"What are you talking about, son of Sagittarius?" The voice was androgynous and soft. Ophiuchus turned, and saw a grayish, slim figure standing behind him. It had two masklike faces, one smiling and the other weeping. Right now the smiling one was looking at Ophiuchus.

"It's Taurus, Water Emperor Gemini. He's . . . unwilling to relinquish control just yet."

"Oh, don't bother with him," Gemini said carelessly.

"Sir?"

"No, let him do whatever he feels like. I have a project, but I need more time, and whatever he does will keep the Rangers busy so I can work. Thanks for telling me, though. Ta-ta." He waved at Ophiuchus, not moving himself.

"Uh, goodbye, then," Ophiuchus said, starting to back away.

"Oh, before I forget, would you be so good as to send out a monster or two and collect some DNA samples from the Rangers? It'll make my work much easier."

"Of course, I'll get right on that."

"Thank you, Ophiuchus." Gemini watched silently until the elevator doors closed, blocking him from Ophiuchus's view.

oZo

A lone car headed away from Angel Grove down a winding road, towards the reservation. Its headlights flashed on cracks and potholes in the road, and the occasional small rodent out for an evening walk. A small house rose up in the distance, with what was either a large shed or a small stable a short distance away.

That was when a pair of Jewel Golems stepped out from behind rising rocks and into the street. The car swerved, but still more of the sapphire giants lumbered towards it from the other direction. Its engine vroomed with a sound not unlike a racecar, and the vehicle swung around and did a u-turn in the stubbly grass. Before it could shoot back the way it had come, a Jewel Golem seized one of the rearview mirrors. It broke off in the monster's grasp as the car leaped away.

One of the Jewel Golems slammed its horned head into the side of the car, denting the door inwards. Its horns tore into the metal. The impact made the vehicle tip, and the monster pushed, sending it over sideways with a crash. Tearing free, the monster ripped the door off and reached inside, only for the driver to seize it by the arm and pull himself out. He hit the ground and rolled, coming up on his feet as the foot soldiers lumbered towards him. Instead of running, he lunged towards the nearest with a loud hi-ya and a kick. His foot thunked against the Jewel Golem's stone body to no visible effect. Just in time he ducked to avoid a two-armed grab by the monster.

However, the fight was over. The foot soldiers closed in, and try as he might, the driver couldn't seem to hurt them no matter what he tried. When one of the Jewel Golems got a hit in, it knocked him down, and all four of the creatures were on him in a moment.

By now the ruckus had drawn the attention of whoever lived in the house; someone came out onto the deck. With a shout, they started running towards the fight scene, but too late. The Jewel Golems disappeared into the desert, dragging their prisoner.

Reaching the fallen car, the runner—David—stopped, breathing fast, and looked around at the battle scene. His expression grew grim as he recognized the battered vehicle.

"Tommy." Backing up, he raised his communicator watch. "Alpha? Call the Rangers, we've got an emergency."

oZo

"Lidian lives in the Addams family house?" Casey asked incredulously, even though there was no one around to hear her.

She stood in front of a metal gate, looking in. Bushes and other plants lined the walk, with a few drooping willows nearby. The house itself was at least three stories high, with a balcony and what looked like a bell tower rising up from the middle. All of the windows were arched, and it had a mansard roof. Although it was a little small for the label, it had the figure of a mansion.

After she got over her staring, Casey tried the gate. It opened easily, and she slipped inside, pulling it closed behind her. She hurried up the walk, hopped up the doorstep, and looked for a doorbell. There wasn't one,so she knocked on the door and waited. No one answered.

Casey waited a full thirty seconds before she started looking around. Peeks in the window didn't reveal anything, and then she got distracted by the weirder plants scattered around. As she crouched to sniff some blue-black lilies, she heard footsteps and looked up.

"Lidian?"

He was just coming around the corner of the house. Seeing her he stopped up short, looking almost scared. Snapping out of it, he ran up to her.

"What are you doing here?"

"You were going to help me study for the biology exam, remember?"

"At the Surf Spot or the library, not here!"

Casey gave him an odd look. "Why not?"

"Ezra doesn't like strangers. You need to go," Lidian insisted, still looking nervous. "We'll both get in trouble if he finds you here."

"Who's Ezra?"

"He's my brother. Look, you go ahead to the Surf Spot, I'll meet you there with my books, okay?"

"Okay," Casey said at last. "Sorry, I didn't know."

"No, no, it's my fault; I should have been more specific. See you there?"

"Yeah." Casey started walking, and Lidian headed inside. The door boomed shut after him, leaving Casey standing in the middle of the path, looking confused and a little hurt.

There was a rustle in the bushes behind her, and she turned around to look. The plants were still moving, but no animals or people were visible. Another soft noise carried from the trees further along the metal fence. Frowning a little, Casey began to follow the noise, moving as quietly as she could. Soon she had to squeeze through the fence—fortunately she was skinny enough to manage it without too much trouble.

The noise got louder as Casey drew further and further away from Lidian's house. Whoever she was following—and it was definitely a someone, from the way the head-height branches were smacked aside or the plants crushed under invisible feet—was no longer afraid of discovery. Excited, but too worried about being heard to call for backup or even morph, Casey moved from tree to tree, following her invisible monster.

Finally, they reached a clearing, and what looked like a large mossy boulder. The monster materialized, revealing itself to be covered in little gleaming mirrors, like a disco ball. Grabbing part of the boulder, it yanked, and off came a camouflage tarp. Beneath it sat a blocky, rounded Windjammer ship, which it climbed inside.

"This is Mirorrage, reporting in."

Casey crept closer to hear what the creep had to say. There might be some trap it had laid for Lidian that she should know about before she kicked his butt.

"Do you have the sample?"

"Yeah, I think so, but this guy is careful. I think he nearly saw me a couple of times."

Casey's communicator watch chimed, making her and Mirrorage jump. The monster stood up in his cockpit, looking around for the source of the noise. Deciding that was as good a cue as any, Casey raised her morphers.

"It's Morphin' Time! Zeo Ranger II, Yellow!"

"Yellow Ranger?!" Mirrorage squawked as Casey sprang out of hiding and gave him a friendly wave.

"Hi! What'cha doing?"

"Nothing I'm going to tell you about!"

"That's okay. Wanna fight?"

"Not particularly." Sitting down again, the monster began to close the cockpit hatch.

"You're doing it wrong. The answer is always 'yes,'" Casey called. "Zeo Power Clubs!"

Charging across the clearing, she kicked off a tree and brought both Power Clubs down on the descending hatch. The glass cracked at the blow. Hearing a panel open behind her, Casey turned and found herself looking down the barrel of a long gun. She threw herself aside just in time to avoid a gout of red fire.

Landing in the grass, Casey rolled and spun around as the gun swiveled after her, igniting the loam and smaller plants on the forest floor. Casey bolted, staying just ahead of the scarlet flames. Her communicator watch chimed again. She threw herself behind a boulder and held it up to her mouth.

"Yeah?"

"Casey, we need you," Violet said.

"Kinda busy right now."

"David's brother's been kidnapped. We need you and the Zords."

"The Zords?" Casey sat bolt upright, forgetting all about shelter.

"Actually the Super Zeozords; we all need to be able to fly."

Casey couldn't talk for a minute. When she did, her voice had jumped an octave from excitement. "I'll be there in five minutes—don't you _dare_ leave me out this time!"

oZo

A ship whose prow was shaped like a charging horse headed towards the Moon. The Jewel Golems had deposited their prisoner in the care of Valkyrie, one of the rare female—and even rarer, humanoid—Windjammers. She'd made it into space already without any trouble, but she was still on the alert for any sudden changes.

Behind her, her prisoner struggled to no avail. She glanced around. Braids of her long blonde hair trailed onto the floor and wound around his arms and legs, holding him to his seat.

"It's no good—I can feel everything you're trying," she said, glancing him up and down.

He didn't seem afraid, or even terribly worried. The look he returned to her was more exasperated than anything else. "What's this all about?"

"Emperor Taurus sent us after you. He thought you could be useful." Valkyrie turned her attention back to the controls.

"Figures." He actually laughed a little. "Just like old times."

Valkyrie was prevented from asking what he was talking about when a sudden flash of red caught her eye. Turning back to the controls, she checked her scanners, and swore under her breath. The Red Ranger was on her tail. Gunning the engine, Valkyrie headed for the Moon.

"Emperor, can you read me?" She said into her comms system. "This is Valkyrie, I've got your prisoner, send me some backup!"

"We're on our way," one of the other monsters replied. "Try to stay out of range while you can."

"Understood." As Valkyrie began firing up her ship's weapons, a massive hand clamped down on one of her wings, making the entire craft rock. Super Zeozord V's grip tightened, making the hull groan. With the push of a button, Valkyrie fired grape shot—scrap metal crammed into explosive missiles—at her attacker. The first burst tore through part of its star-shaped torso, and it had to let go to fly out of range of the next.

"He could have crushed us. Looks like the Rangers don't want to hurt you," she said, glancing back at her prisoner.

"Does that really surprise you?"

"No, I suppose not." Valkyrie had to throw the ship into a sharp banking turn to avoid a blow from the now giant-sized Zeo Power Sword. She nearly knocked her head on the side of the hatch, and in her distraction, didn't notice Tommy free one of his hands.

oZo

In the cockpit of Super Zeozord V, David moved to cut off the Windjammer ship. It shot up over the head of his Zord, between his hands as he grabbed for it. He couldn't let it get to the Moon—even with the other Rangers on their way, they'd be outnumbered if they got into the Zodiac Emperors' territory.

With a whoosh, Super Zeozord IV flew up behind the Windjammer vehicle, Super Zeozord III close behind.

"What's the plan?" Lidian asked through the comms.

"Force it back to Earth. We'll deal with the monster on the ground."

"Right." Super Zeozord III dropped down sharply, moving below the Windjammer ship until they were neck-and-neck. "Green, you go from the top."

"No, take her left," the Red Ranger replied. "She favors left turns."

"Yes sir." Lidian obeyed David's order.

With Super Zeozord V rising up directly in its path, the Windjammer ship took the most logical option, and flew up and right. Naturally David had guessed this was coming; he fired his jet propulsion and shot into the ship's path. Unfortunately Valkyrie had guessed what he would do. More grape shot scored the Zord's hull, drawing sparks and bursts of fire. It slowed and fell off-course as David scrambled to regain control, and on sailed the Windjammer ship.

"I've got this!" Violet shot straight upwards, but the Windjammer was expecting that. It shot up as well. As Super Zeozord IV moved in to help, a blinding white beam slammed into its back. Four more Windjammer ships had arrived. Explosions tore through the Zord's hull as the beam held it in place.

"Lidian!" Violet yelled.

"I'm okay, but I could use some help—and someone hurry and stop her." The Green Ranger sounded out of breath.

By now the Windjammer ship had sailed right past Super Zeozord IV. The other ships moved in to shield it, engaging Super Zeozord V as it recovered. But as it sailed past its allies, Valkyrie's ship bucked and half-turned. At a distance it was hard to tell, but it looked like there was a struggle going on inside the cockpit.

The communicators turned on, and Tommy's voice came through. "Rangers—I'm free but I don't know these controls and Valkyrie's still—" a crash made the rest of his sentence inaudible.

"Hang on, I've got a crazy idea," Violet said, rocketing towards the ship.

"Blue Ranger—" David started. He deflected a volley of electrically charged harpoons with his super-sized Zeo Power Sword.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful. You in the ship, hit the deck." Super Zeozord III drew one of its Zeo Power Axes and twirled it.

"I don't think I like this plan," Lidian said, as his Zord drifted towards the impending fight.

Hauling back, Super Zeozord III threw the axe. It slammed into the hatch of the Windjammer ship with a loud crunch, and cracks spread out across the glass. Zooming up to the smaller ship, the Zord seized the axe and yanked it out, spinning around as it did so. A small hatch opened in its back as it struck the cockpit, metal grinding against metal. One of the smaller ship's engines blew out, sending smoke and debris in every direction.

"He's in!" The Blue Ranger shouted, and pushed off, sending Valkyrie's ship into a tailspin.

"You guys are nuts," Tommy managed, sounding winded.

"Please. You haven't even met the Yellow Ranger yet," Violet said.

"HIIIII-YAAAAH!"

The Blue Ranger's tone was perfectly nonchalant. "And there she is now."

A yellow-and-white blur slammed into the Windjammer ship holding Lidian's Zord in place, tearing through the hull. It slowed down enough to reveal itself as Super Zeozord II, which swiveled back towards the monsters. The beam flickered and died, releasing the battered Super Zeozord IV.

"Thanks," Lidian said.

"I LOVE THIS THING! HEY VI, WATCH ME!" Firing its boot repulsors, Super Zeozord II spun its Power Clubs until they were a yellow blur, slamming it into the hatch of one of the remaining ships. It shattered, sending its occupant flying. The Zord backhanded the flailing monster away.

"Blue Ranger, back to Earth," David ordered, moving in after Casey as she chased the remaining Windjammer ships around like a child pursuing fireflies.

"On my way."

"David?" The voice was Tommy's, and David paused hearing him. "You guys are doing a great job."

"Thanks."

oZo

Emperor Taurus had been sitting in the command deck of the prison ship for nearly an hour now. The fight was long over; the Jewel Golems had returned and the last of the monsters been reeled in. Two had survived, but they were both wounded. The other two were dead. Mirrorage hadn't even left the planet.

The door hissed open, and Gemini slipped into the room. Emperor Taurus turned a baleful eye on him. "Here to gloat?"

"Why would I do that? It was an unfortunate blow for all of us." The androgynous creature's voice was soothing. It took a seat beside him. "Though I wonder what was so special about that young man that led you to attack him specifically."

Taurus sighed. "I looked into this planet's history, and he was a former Ranger. Rita had him under her control for a little while, as did the Machine Empire, and he was powerful. I thought he could give us an edge if we brought him under our control—give Pisces something to do—and he's actually related to one of our current enemies, so there was that too."

"But he escaped."

"He did." With a groan, Taurus stood, using the console to push himself up. His weight made the metal creak.

"Are you going to try again?"

"No. They'll be expecting it now. How about your plan? How did that go?"

"Oh, quite well, thank you. Without Mirrorage I lost the Green Ranger's DNA sample, but I have the rest. If it's just one I can make a fine visual match."

Taurus grunted, and headed towards the door. Gemini's head turned to follow his movements. "May I ask where you're going?"

"Sleep. I've been up long enough." Taurus ducked to get through the door. It closed behind him.

"Yes. You have," Gemini said quietly.

oZo

Trivia: The original idea for this chapter had Tommy actually defeat his would-be captors, and the Rangers try to figure out why they'd attacked him. It would have been for the same reason. Also, don't worry, he'll get some actual screen time over the rest of the Gemini arc.


	8. Gemini: Seeing Double

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban, not me. Still.

oZo

"I don't get it," Casey said, pulling a newly-unscrewed panel off the console and setting it aside. "Lidian's acting really cagey about himself. When I tried to go study at his house he freaked out as if . . . I dunno, I was a stranger and I'd nearly caught him morphing."

"Weird," Violet said. She wasn't much of a techie, but she could lift heavy things and Casey could grab her on a moment's notice, so she was helping her and Alpha 5 with repairs. "But don't read too much into it. He seems pretty shy."

"Yeah, but he seemed almost scared." Casey pulled out a tangle of wires and began sorting through them, checking for breaks or burnt-out ends. "Feels weird, knowing he doesn't trust me with something. I thought we were friends."

"Casey, I'm your sister and _I_ don't tell you everything. _Relax_."

"Sorry."

As Violet returned to their impromptu storage cabinet (the tunnel), she saw a reddish flash, and guessed David had teleported in. Brushing off her hands, she walked back into the main Power Chamber.

"Good news, we got a call from Eltar and they're going to send us replacements for some of the more compli-" she stopped abruptly.

David was here, but standing beside him was the man they'd rescued from Windjammers just a week before. Side-by-side they could have been brothers.

"Tommy?" That was Alpha 5, sounding like he couldn't believe his optical sensors.

"Alpha!" Tommy ran over. "David told me you were still here, but after what I heard about Eltar, I thought-what happened to you?"

"It's a long story," Alpha 5 replied, "But yes, I'm still functional. What about you? Are you still driving racecars?"

"That? Nah, didn't work out, long story," Tommy said, shrugging. "I found a good college; I'm just back in town for spring break."

"...what's going on here?" Casey said at last, looking from Tommy to David to Alpha 5 in bewilderment.

"Sorry, forgot we haven't actually been introduced yet. Tommy Oliver, former Red Zeo Ranger. Among other things."

Violet just stared at him for a minute. Snapping out of it, she hurried forward and offered her hand, which Tommy shook. "Violet Wildman, Blue Zeo Ranger. That's my sister Casey, she's Yellow."

"I guessed," Tommy said, looking over at her. He grinned a little. "You're both in your Ranger colors. We used to do that too. I don't think it was even conscious."

"We are?" Casey looked down at herself. Sure enough, she was wearing a rather stretched-out yellow blouse, and Violet a sky blue jacket. "Wow, yeah, we are. Hadn't realized."

Violet interrupted. "You're really a veteran Power Ranger?"

"And my brother," David interjected.

"Can you tell me who the other Rangers were? Why did you guys retire? What did you mean by 'among other things'? How did all of you grow giant-sized to fight King Mondo?"

"Woah, slow down, one question at a time," Tommy interrupted, though he was grinning at her enthusiasm.

Casey piped up. "Did David get picked as a Ranger because he's your brother?"

"No," David said firmly, at the same time as Tommy was replying "not as far as I know." At the tone, Tommy shot him a strange look. "You all right?"

"Fine. You and Alpha catch up, I need to go train," David said. There was something icy and standoffish about him now.

"Didn't you just finish?" Tommy asked.

"Not yet." David raised his communicator watch.

Alpha 5 spoke up. "David, the Wildmans and I are clearing room for the new equipment. Could your training wait a few minutes? We could use your help."

David hesitated, and nodded. "Right."

"Okay, great, help me take everything out of this console?" Violet moved back to her spot near the center console. "It's fried."

David did. Tommy and Alpha 5 moved to the far end of the room.

"So, you're actually the mentor this time?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it that way…"

oZo

Lidian walked through the meadow, loading a new spool of film into his camera. He'd gotten plenty of wildlife shots already, but he wanted to be ready in case he spotted something good on the way home. Stuffing it into his backpack, he took up his walking stick and started back down the trail. It was only a quick walk back down the mountain, but it was already late morning and he wanted to be home in time for lunch.

At that point, he heard a rustling noise. Looking around, Lidian glimpsed something crystalline and reddish moving through the trees nearby. He froze, watching intently. Just as he'd feared, out walked a Jewel Golem. Unlike the others, this one's body was covered in rippling stripes, all reddish-violet.

"Well, there goes a nice quiet morning," Lidian said, slipping his backpack off his shoulders and letting it drop to the ground. "It's Morphin' Time!"

As his Zeonizers materialized, he extended his arms to morph and felt a hand made out of cold stone clamp down on his right wrist. Before he could do anything, he'd been swung around and flung to the ground. Another Jewel Golem this one bluish, held his arm twisted back behind him. Lidian struggled, only for a massive, rocky foot to slam down on his mid-back. It knocked the wind out of him in a grunt, and something cracked in his back. He didn't have the breath to scream; all that came out was a whistling groan.

The foot soldier hauled him up and caught him by the throat, lifting him up over its featureless head. Lidian struggled, feet dangling almost a yard above the ground. He just managed to bring his Zeonizers together, and green light enveloped him as the monster tried to crush his windpipe. Drawing his Zeo Laser Pistol, he fired a few shots at the creature's head and chest, forcing it to release him. Lidian landed in a crouch, only to immediately throw himself sideways to avoid the Jewel Golem's punch.

Kicking off a nearby tree, the Green Ranger peppered the Jewel Golem with lasers, blasting through its neck (or the air where its neck would be). Its head thunked to the ground, smoking, but as it separated from the body, it transformed into a branch. As Lidian hit the ground, the rest of the Jewel Golem shuddered and turned into a tree, with one smoking stump where a bough had been.

"Huh?" Lidian stared at the tree in bewilderment. "Where did it—" He was cut off by a Jewel Golem's fist slamming into his back. It knocked him into the tree, and he fell down, winded by the attack. Now he was sure one of his ribs was cracked; his back throbbed from the earlier wound.

As the Green Ranger struggled to his feet, the Jewel Golem seized him by the helmet and slammed him into the tree, hard. As he struggled in its grip, it raised its other, blocky arm. Lidian barely had time to register what was coming before the blow struck him in the head. His vision flashed white, and he fell back against the tree. A second rock-hard fist delivered an uppercut that made his head snap back hard enough to give him whiplash, then a third crushed his diaphragm into his spine. Sparks flew from his suit, and it flickered out of existence for the blink of an eye.

Lidian slumped back against the tree trunk, gasping for breath. The first, reddish Jewel Golem stumped out of the trees, joining its fellow. He tried to pick himself up as the two readied to hit him again, but one slammed a foot down on his leg, hard enough to draw sparks and a cry of pain. Bending down, the reddish Jewel Golem caught Lidian by the throat.

However, before it could do anything, a volley of lasers struck it from behind, and it shattered. Its fellow wheeled towards the blasts, and Lidian tried to catch his breath. An orange blur dropped out of the tree, slamming a glowing blade down on the Jewel Golem's back. It staggered forward. As Lidian started to pick himself up, a pair of gloved hands caught him by the shoulders, making him yelp.

"Are you okay?"

The Green Ranger looked up, and froze. Standing over him was a man in a turquoise Zeo Ranger suit. Aside from color, it appeared to have the same design as Lidian's own. The orange blur was knocked off the Jewel Golem, and turned out to be another female Ranger, also in a Zeo Ranger suit.

"Turquoise Ranger!" A female voice shouted, and still more Rangers ran up to Lidian and his rescuers. One was a woman in deep rose pink, the other a man wearing indigo spandex. They joined the Orange Ranger in her attack on the remaining Jewel Golem.

"Are you hurt?" The Turquoise Ranger asked again, making Lidian start.

"I'm not sure—are you real? I'm not hallucinating?"

"Oh no, I'm real," the other Ranger replied with a laugh, as he helped Lidian stand. "We'll talk about it later, though."

"Right, right," Lidian said, and doubled over with a hiss of pain, clutching his injured ribs.

"You need to get out of here. Can you teleport on your own?" The Turquoise Ranger asked.

"Yeah." Lidian raised his communicator watch, but hesitated. "You need to let go unless you want to come too."

"I think I should. You can't even stand up alone right now."

Lidian hesitated. "I don't think that's a good idea."

With a loud hi-ya, the Orange Ranger stabbed a double-ended javelin into the Jewel Golem, shattering it. As she did, the other three normal Zeo Rangers teleported in, going for their weapons. They halted at the strange sight, and looked around in clear bewilderment.

"Lid—Green Ranger! You're hurt!" Casey exclaimed, darting to his side. She slid her shoulder under his to support him. "What happened?"

"Jewel Golems got the drop on me. These ones can do illusions," Lidian replied. He jerked his head at the four strangers. "Think they got here just in time."

"I only wish we could have been a little bit sooner," the Turquoise Ranger said.

"You and me both. Agh!" Lidian flinched as Casey accidentally squeezed his cracked ribs.

"But who are you people?" Violet demanded, wheeling on the strangers. "How are there more Rangers?"

"We can explain," the Rose Ranger said. "But this isn't the right place."

"Understood." The Red Ranger addressed his communicator watch. "Alpha, teleport us back to base."

"Are you sure?" Lidian interrupted. "I mean, we've only just met them."

"And they saved you. What are you so worried about?" Violet asked.

"No, no, he's got a fair point," the Rose Ranger said. "You don't even know who we are; we don't need to see your secret base right away. This place seems pretty secluded; it'll do."

David nodded in acknowledgment. "Alpha, new plan—just bring Lidian back, he's hurt."

Lidian didn't argue. Casey released him carefully, and green light enveloped him. He rematerialized in the Power Chamber, and nearly fell down, but Alpha 5 caught him. With the robot's help, he limped to the medical bed and sat down with a groan. Alpha 5 began scanning his injuries. The Viewing Globe was on, and he could see the scene on the mountain almost as clearly as if he were still there.

The four new Rangers moved together, and at a signal from the Rose Ranger, demorphed. They all looked like teenagers on the high side of fifteen. Two boys, two girls, just like Lidian and his team.

"My name is Erica Whitearrow," the Rose Ranger said, brushing her long, chestnut-brown hair out of her face. "And you're going to have to bear with me, because even I have trouble believing what's happened to us sometimes."

"We're superheroes who fight monsters from space on a semiregular basis. Show us what you've got," was Violet's response.

"Our powers are from the Zeo Crystal too—Alpha 5 will tell you that it grows more and more powerful as time goes on, and this is how it's manifesting," Erica said. "I think it has something to do with the Pink Subcrystal being damaged. We were each chosen separately and drawn here to fight with you."

The Zeo Rangers said nothing, just looked at each other and the strangers. The Turquoise Ranger, who was a short boy with coppery curls, kept fidgeting.

"Why you?" David asked at last.

The Indigo Ranger, an African-American boy who looked uncannily similar to the female Orange Ranger, laughed. "A proper introduction might help explain that. I'm Lance, and this is my—well, our—sister Judith."

"Come again?" Casey cocked her head to one side like a confused puppy.

"Your tact is amazing, _Lancelot_," Judith said to him, shaking her head. She took a deep breath. "We were all drawn here by dreams, and in those dreams, we also found out who you guys are. Apparently, we're your siblings."

"WHAT?" Even Alpha and Lidian joined in the exclamation.

oZo

Ophiuchus walked out of the prison ship. Stars filled the skies as always, though he could see what looked like the Sun near the horizon. Striding across the dusty grey terrain, Ophiuchus soon reached a crater a few meters away from the ship. In the center of the crater sat Gemini, in the lotus position, its weeping face forward. A sash with the Zodiac Emperor sigil was draped across one of its shoulders.

"Emperor Gemini?" Ophiuchus ventured.

Slowly, Gemini spoke. "My plan requires intense concentration, young one. I must have silence. That is why I am no longer aboard the ship. You know this."

"Some of the other Emperors wanted me to get a report from you. They'd have come down here themselves if I hadn't. The Jewel Golems are—"

"By 'some of the others you mean Taurus?"

"Him and Cancer, yes."

Gemini let out a deep humming sound. After a moment, he spoke again.

"Everything is proceeding according to plan. However, that plan might be helped if one of them sent down a monster to occupy the Rangers."

Ophiuchus bowed. "Thank you, sir."

"You are welcome, young one. Your politeness is appreciated."

Ophiuchus took that as his cue to leave. His footsteps faded away, leaving Gemini alone on the surface of the Moon once more. Deep within the eyeholes of the masks, a blue light flickered.

oZo

"Go back to the part where you even know who we are—never mind this whole long-lost sibling thing," Casey said. "I-I mean, for the moment, that's still completely insane."

"Agreed," Violet said, folding her arms.

"Look," Erica said, putting up both hands, "I told you, we've all been having prophetic dreams since the time you guys started as Rangers. That's how we knew who you were—but we did look it up to make sure before we came here."

"Which is how we know why we didn't hear about each other before now," Lance added. "Apparently your Mom and our Dad, uh, crossed paths a while before she met Mr. Wildman, and she let him keep us."

"Oh." Casey looked uncomfortable, Violet still suspicious.

As Alpha 5 finished bandaging his bruised ribs, Lidian raised his communicator watch to his mouth. "Turquoise? Or . . . Hector, was it?"

The boy heard Lidian's question through David's communicator watch. "Yeah, that's me."

"What about you? What's your story?"

Glancing around at the rest of the group, Hector rubbed the back of his neck, clearly nervous. "Have you already told them about . . .?"

"About what?"

"You know, the reason you and Ezra had to leave?" He looked very uncomfortable.

"He hasn't," Violet said. "And we didn't ask."

"Not more than once, anyway," Casey put in.

"Just tell them," Lidian said. "I want to hear your version."

"Look, our power signatures match yours; I bet our DNA matches too, why can't you believe what we're saying?" Erica asked, starting to get visibly exasperated.

"That scanner's still broken," Casey put in.

"Then ask your Mom! She'll probably remember if she gave birth to twins."

"Erica, calm down," Judith interrupted, putting a hand on the Rose Ranger's shoulder. "Would you believe it if they were the ones telling you?"

"I believe you," David interrupted, and everyone stared at him. "I've already got one long-lost sibling who turned out to be a Power Ranger. And like you said earlier," he added to Violet, "we don't have a lot of grounds for skepticism. Weirder things happen to us every week."

Erica smiled in relief, and the rest of her team looked a little less tense.

Taking David's cue, Casey grinned at the twins. "I always wanted a brother! And another sister is cool too . . . but why Lancelot?"

"Not my decision," Lance replied, but he was grinning.

Violet still looked wary, but she smiled at the group. "We could certainly use the help. Glad to have you here."

"Guys, they're lying," Lidian said. Hector flinched as if it had been directed at him personally. "They aren't telling us anything the Zodiac Emperors wouldn't know."

"One sec, guys," Violet said, stepping back from the group. She teleported into the Power Chamber, and turned to Lidian. He glared defiantly, but instead of scolding him, she sighed. "Look, I know. This seems a little too convenient to me, too, but being obstinate won't do any good. Let's play along for now and keep a close eye on them. Who knows, maybe they'll even be telling the truth."

"They're not."

Violet raised her eyebrows. "How do you know?"

Lidian hesitated. He said nothing, even though Violet waited, watching expectantly. After thirty seconds had passed, she shook her head. "Look, I know you've got some kind of baggage about your home life, but letting it get in the way of your Ranger work isn't going to help anyone. Try to be civil, okay?"

"But—" The Power Chamber's alarm, with its sound newly restored, cut him off.

"Guys, we've got another emergency," Violet said into her communicator watch. She hesitated, glanced at Lidian, and forged ahead. "You'd all better get in here so we can brief you."

Erica was all business. "On our way."

Lidian looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers. His mouth worked silently, but he couldn't seem to find the words he was looking for.

"You're making a mistake," he muttered.

"Maybe, but from where I stand, it's the only logical choice," Violet replied coldly. Light filled the room as the other six Rangers materialized in the room.

oZo

Trivia: Those of you who were around for the original version of Neo Zeo will recognize most of the sibling Rangers' names. Lancelot, Lance for short, was Blue; Hector was Green, and Judith was Yellow. Erica's name comes from Eric Frank, the actor who played David Trueheart on the show.


	9. Gemini: Liar, Liar

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, Saban does.

oZo

"So, um . . . when did you guys get here?" Casey asked.

"A couple of hours ago," Hector replied, and laughed a little. "Haven't even checked into the motel yet; all our stuff is still at the bus stop."

"Motel? Maybe you could stay w-" Casey began, but Violet interrupted.

"Casey, how many bedrooms does our house have?"

"No, that's okay," Lance said. "We didn't really want to make things awkward, y'know, with Mom."

"Lidian has more than enough room," David said, and the Green Ranger wheeled on him, aghast. David just raised his eyebrows. "You do, I've been to your house."

"And you know how strict Ezra is!"

"He's out of town for three weeks, isn't he?"

Lidian hopped off the medical bed and grabbed David by the arm, pulling him away from the group. All of the new Rangers looked uncomfortable, but Hector in particular had stopped smiling entirely. Judith put a hand on his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Lidian whispered.

"Making a logical decision. We can work out something more permanent later, but right now you're the only one who can house these people," David said.

"No, I can't!" Lidian moved in even closer. "You know that Hector can't be my brother. It's not physically possible. Besides, if they're poking around in my house they might find-"

"Why couldn't he be related? He hasn't said where he's from or how he was born without you knowing. Besides, even if he isn't your brother, he's a Power Ranger. We need all the help we can get. And you know how I feel about the rest. The whole reason Ezra's gone is to settle the latest visitors anyway."

After a long minute, the Green Ranger sighed and turned back to the others. "He's right. It makes the most sense for you guys to stay with me. But first, some quick house rules."

"That's fair," Erica said, nodding. The others looked relieved.

"My brother Ezra is paranoid and strict about strangers, so if I tell you part of the house is off-limits, respect that. There are places even I can't go."

"Understood," Lance said.

Lidian relaxed a little, seeing that all four of them looked sincere. "Thanks. I'm not trying to be mean."

"No, I don't blame you for not trusting us just yet," Erica said. "This is pretty weird for us too."

Lidian managed a smile. "Let's get your stuff moved."

"We'll help!" Casey interjected, grinning. "So, how did you guys get morphers?"

oZo

Lidian was startled out of a doze by a muffled thud. Instantly he snapped awake, sitting up in bed. Where had that noise come from? Getting up, he snatched his communicator watch from the nightstand, crept tothe door and looked out. He'd put all of the new Rangers in the same hall as his room, and with a sinking feeling, he saw that one of the rooms was open. Hector.

Slipping out, he crept down the hall. A short flight of stairs led to the front room, where he saw that one of the end tables had been shoved out of place. Hector had probably run into it in the dark. Lidian's eyes were adjusted to the darkness, and he knew the house, so he crossed the large room and entered the far passage without a problem.

Hector was struggling with a door, his back to the hallway. Lidian's bare feet barely made a sound on the wooden floor, so he was able to come right up behind the other boy without being noticed. There he folded his arms and cleared his throat. At the noise Hector spun around, arms raised in a defensive stance, only to freeze at the sight of Lidian.

"Just what do you think you're doing? I specifically told you not to come in here," Lidian said.

"Looking for the bathroom." Hector sounded defensive.

"There's a bathroom upstairs, I showed you. Is that the best story you've got?"

Lidian pointed silently back the way they'd come. Shoulders slumping, Hector started walking, Lidian following him, and muttered something under his breath.

"What?" Lidian asked.

Turning, Hector gave him a sour look. "I said, you wouldn't be treating the Wildman girls or David like this."

"That's because I trust them."

"I helped save your life this morning, and you still don't trust me? What is it going to take?"

"A better story. You're trying too hard-you're a Ranger, with powers almost identical to mine, _and _you're my long-lost brother?"

"It is not a story!" Hector was nearly yelling now. "Why won't you listen to me? You decided I was wrong before I'd even opened my mouth!"

"Really?" Lidian halted. "In that case, why don't you tell me our _real _life story? Nobody else is here; you're not 'giving away my secret' to anyone."

Hector said nothing. He was breathing very fast, pink in the face. "Because I don't know it. I was found in a back alley with a cracked skull and no memory back in 1996. The dreams reminded me what my name was, and about you and Ezra, but I don't know how I got there or what happened to our parents! Satisfied?"

"Why didn't you just say that the first time?" Lidian retorted.

"Would it have helped?"

"No."

Hector threw up his hands helplessly. "That's all I've got! Who knows, maybe we're not actually related and allthose dreams were a lie."

"That's probably it," Lidian said, sounding indifferent.

Hector dropped his arms. "So that's that, then. Another dead end. I'm just an orphan again."

Lidian softened. "You're not an orphan if you're not alone. Real family doesn't have to be blood-related. I know from experience."

Hector's voice took on a bitter, accusing edge. "But it hurts when you are and they won't admit it. Why? What are you so scared of?"

"Nothing—"

"Then why won't you listen to me? What makes it so impossible for us to be related?"

"I—"

"JUST TELL ME!"

"YOU'RE HUMAN!"

Lidian froze, eyes wide, as what he'd just said sank in. Nearby, a grandfather clock struck twelve. Hector's anger faded, replaced with a calculating expression. When he spoke, the quavers and anger were all gone.

"You're not, then? That's interesting." Lidian made a grab for him, but Hector sprang back. He grinned. "Touchy, aren't we? Been very careful with that secret—even your _teammates_ don't know, do they?"

"Who are you?" Lidian demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing. Or hey, maybe I'll ask the other Rangers; I'm sure they'd love to know that they've got a liar like you around."

Lidian lunged at Hector, who sidestepped out of reach and moved around Lidian. As he turned, he saw more figures standing behind him, and stopped. The other three sibling Rangers were watching, all with identical looks of curiosity on their faces.

"Well, isn't this funny," all four of them said in perfect unison.

Lidian struck a fighting stance. The four fanned out, surrounding him.

"Mind telling me who I'm actually speaking to?" He asked, looking from one to another.

"Air Emperor Gemini." The four voices sounded eerily calm. "You're clever, Green Ranger. I didn't think you'd see through this so quickly. But you've got just as much to lose as I do by blowing the whistle."

"I have a whole _planet _to lose."

A ripple of laughter filled the air, and Lidian shivered a little. When it faded, only Erica spoke. The other three stood perfectly still, neither blinking nor even breathing.

"It is no more your planet than mine, but the point stands: tell everyone what you think we are now, and all we have to do is demand a DNA test. We can pass as humans. I don't think you will," Judith said. "Who are they going to believe? Their blood relatives, or the reclusive stranger they've known for only a few weeks, who's already tricked them once? Honestly, you're better off just surrendering now; you could be a valuable addition to our side."

Lidian's reply was immediate and curt. "No."

Erica came closer, and studied his face in the moonlight. "You're from some conquered planet, aren't you? From what I've heard the galaxy has been in constant turmoil lately. The Windjammers are rough but I can control them, and once the Zodiac Empire has been reestablished, we will keep the peace. All we need is the secret to your morphers. These won't work for much longer, and we may have to take drastic measures if you don't cooperate."

"I said no."

"Your choices are to reveal me and be exposed yourself, to join me and help conquer this planet, or keep quiet and allow things to continue as they are. Make your decision."

Silence fell. Lidian looked around at the four clones, thinking fast and trying not to lose his cool. He didn't have his morphers, but his communicator watch was still there. Erica's gaze followed his. The closest of the clones was Hector, just behind Lidian and to his left. Taking a deep breath, Lidian spun to uppercut Hector—only for the blow to pass right through the boy's face. It rippled around his fist like playdough, re-forming itself as the Green Ranger recoiled. The imposter only looked mildly irritated. Lidian shoved past him, raising his communicator watch.

"David? You're right, no more secr-"

oZo

"Those bonds won't twist or break," Hector said. "You're only wasting your strength."

Lidian said nothing. He shifted into a slightly more comfortable position, though with hands fastened behind his back with now-solid goop that wasn't much of a change. Though he tried to look impassive, his heart hadn't stopped pounding since the fight, and his hands sweated underneath his rubbery bonds. A wind picked up, and Hector stood, squinting into the night sky.

"Looks like your ride is coming. Good; I've just about got your cover story worked out. It's really quite tragic."

"They won't buy it."

"You're just saying that to contradict me."

The Windjammer ship descended towards the desert, blowing up a miniature sandstorm around itself. It was very angular, and most of its patchy metal hull was black. Lidian braced himself as the hatch opened. The Windjammer looked like a fighter pilot, with a gas mask, black goggles and a flight cap.

"What are you supposed to be?" Hector asked, looking the creature up and down.

"My name's Flying Ace."

"Never mind. You brought the dummy?"

"In the back." The monster jerked its head towards the back of the cockpit.

Hurrying over, Hector climbed up the ship's wing and reached inside. With a little effort, the two began pulling out what looked like a floppy mannequin.

"It's morphin' time," Lidian whispered. Nothing happened; the white stuff covered his wrists completely. Either that or the morphing call had to be shouted. _Okay, okay, calm down and think . . . keep playing helpless, _he decided. Get them off-guard, then make a move when it'll count.

The two had gotten the dummy out, and now Flying Ace returned for Lidian. Seizing him by the arm, it hauled him upright and towards the ship. Hector was fussing with the mannequin.

"Good, hold him still," he ordered, standing.

White rays shot out of his eyes, passing over Lidian. Hector made a spinning gesture with one finger, and Flying Ace turned Lidian, letting Hector scan him from every angle. Satisfied, Hector turned to the mannequin, enveloping it in his eye beams. Its body shifted and defined; within minutes, a perfect duplicate of Lidian lay on the ground. The light faded, and Hector waved a hand at Flying Ace to put Lidian in the ship.

No sooner had he dumped Lidian behind the pilot's seat than Lidian kicked him in the face. However his ribs were still sore from the previous day's fight, and a kick to the chest left him gasping in pain. Lidian glimpsed multicolored lights shoot overhead, They landed in a row behind Hector and materialized into the rest of the Rangers. The monster whirled around, and Hector dropped to the ground. Thanks to laser burns, dirt and sand, he looked as if he'd just been in a vicious fight. Beside him, the fake Lidian was covered in massive burns. In fact, it looked like a corpse.

"Hector!" Erica, Lance and Judith ran to his side, but Lance saw the fake Lidian on the ground and froze.

With a shaking hand, Hector pointed towards the real Lidian as he sat up in the spaceship's cockpit. "H-he's a shapeshifter. Copied Lidian and—" his voice cracked.

"He's lying—he's the shapeshifter!" Lidian protested. He held up his still-bound wrists. "Why would I be tied up if I was on their side?"

The rest of the Rangers were staring in clear bewilderment. Flying Ace, who'd paused at the Rangers' arrival, now climbed up into the ship. Ignoring Lidian, it threw a lever, and a swivel gun popped out from one of the wings. It spat red lasers at the Rangers, who scattered.

"Zeo Laser Swords!" David shouted, and the other Zeo Rangers obeyed, charging towards the ship and morphing as they went. Hector didn't join them, dropping to his knees beside the "corpse."

Shoving Lidian back into the seat, Flying Ace started to lower the hatch. Alarmed, Lidian tried to climb out, only to be grabbed by the collar and jerked back. The windshield cracked as a sword slammed down onto it. With another strike, the hatch shattered and the sword embedded itself in the back of the seat. Lidian sprang upright and began sawing through his bonds with the sword. Flying Ace caught him in a headlock and tried to drag him away, but he threw his arms around the blade, and the pulling only forced the sword through the goop.

"Zeo Ranger IV, Green!" Lidian yelled as his hands jerked apart. The morphers materialized, and he brought them together over Flying Ace's arm as he slammed Lidian into the dashboard. Green light enveloped him, but Lidian barely waited for it to fade before he punched Flying Ace in the goggles. The monster fell back.

Springing upright, Lidian seized his opponent and slammed his head into the dashboard over and over. When he stopped struggling, Lidian tossed him back, climbed up and dragged himself through the hole in the hatch overhead. Landing in a crouch, he ran over to the other Rangers—and was promptly shot at. Only a quick dive saved him.

"Careful, he's using Lidian's morphers!" Erica shouted, keeping her Zeo Laser Pistol trained on him.

"Because I _am_ Lidian! Could a monster use something linked to this half of the Morphing Grid?"

"It's happened before," Erica replied.

"Let me fight him," Hector said, finally rising. He gave Lidian a death glare.

"You don't have to, you're hurt," Violet said.

Lidian put up his hands. Trying to sound calm, he said, "I am Lidian. Run a scan on that body; it's a fake. So are the rest of these 'sibling' Rangers. They might be able to fake a DNA test, but I bet if you look them up, none of them existed until earlier today."

"How dare—" Erica began, and almost charged, but Lance held her back.

"Why should we believe you?" Violet asked. "If you're a shapeshifter working for the Zodiac Emperors, you'd want us to turn against each other."

Lidian hesitated. Drawing in a deep breath, he lowered his hands. "Power down." He demorphed, and unstrapping his morphers, tossed them in David's direction. The Red Ranger caught them. "Scan me too. I'm alien, but I'm not a shapeshifter."

"What?" Casey finally spoke up.

Lidian raised the first two fingers of either hand to his forehead, and shut his eyes. He breathed in once, and willed his projected disguise to go away. The air before him rippled slightly, and a white gemstone appeared in the center of his forehead.

"Remember when I told you my name was Greek, Casey? I was lying; I'm sorry, I didn't know I could trust you. I'm from the planet Edenoi." He looked to David. "My brother and I didn't crash in an airplane—it was a spaceship. David found us."

All eyes turned to David, who nodded slowly. "It's all true."

"Why are you listening to him? My brother is _dead_," Hector insisted, his voice cracking.

"How would a shapeshifter know all this?" Violet retorted.

"Maybe he's a mind-reader, how should I know? I was right here, I saw it happen."

"Do you believe this freak? He's just told you he's been lying to you the whole time he's known you," Judith put in. "We're your brothers and sisters; we're supposed to trust each other."

None of the Zeo Rangers spoke. Even Flying Ace, who must have recovered by now, seemed to be waiting for someone to react. Sick with suspense, Lidian gazed at his teammates, willing them to believe him.

Finally, David held up his morpher. "Alpha, do you have any portable scanners?"

Exclamations of anger and disbelief rose from the sibling Rangers. Hector tore free of Judith and charged Lidian, who sprang aside just in time. He fired off a roundhouse kick, but Hector caught it and twisted, throwing Lidian off-balance. He threw himself with his momentum, taking Hector down with him, and kicked free.

"Stop it!" Violet yelled, but Lance caught her by the arm and jerked her back. "Let go of me!" Finally she twisted her arm around and pushed, forcing Lance back.

"So that's it?" Erica asked, sounding heartbroken. "You're going to trust him over us? I was hoping we could do this the nice way. Truly, I didn't want to have to kill any of you to get your powers. We have no choice now."

As if that had been a signal, Hector snatched at Lidian, and his outstretched arm transformed into a lash of white goop. It snared Lidian's ankle and jerked it out from under him. He hit the sand with a grunt, and was dragged back towards the rising shapeshifter.

"So we're not related?" Casey asked Judith. The Orange Ranger shook her head. "That sucks. I've always wanted more brothers and sisters. That or a kitten, but Mom and Dad aren't crazy about that either."

Judith swung a right hook at Casey, who ducked and avoided the goop-arm as it passed overhead. Lunging forward, she tackled Judith in a hug, and they both rolled around in the sand, struggling.

Violet went straight for her Zeo Laser Blade, but so did Lance; their weapons clashed against each other. Breaking the lock, Lance swung low, but Violet parried and turned it into a slash. She caught his shoulder, slicing through his indigo suit. More white goop showed through the tear.

David, holding Lidian's morphers, drew his Zeo Laser Pistol with his free hand and started shooting at Erica. She zigzagged around the lasers, even making holes in her body to let them pass through harmlessly. Turning, David ran towards Lidian, who was still struggling with an apparently melting Hector.

"Catch!" David shouted, and threw the Zeonizers just as Erica reached his side. Throwing herself at him, she tackled him flat.

Lidian reached, but fumbled the morphers, and they fell into the sand. Hector swooped over Lidian and snatched them up, re-forming and grinning wickedly.

"Finally! I've been waiting for a chance to use these!"

"Don't try it," Lidian said, pushing himself to his feet. "The Zeo Crystal accepted me, not you."

Hector rolled his eyes. "Don't give me any of that destiny gobbledygook. What was it I was supposed to say? It's morphine time?"

He crossed his wrists, linking the Zeonizers. Green light enveloped him, and he let out a triumphant laugh as the Ranger suit materialized around him.

Then something went wrong.

White lightning bolts shot up and down his body, and he doubled over, clutching at his chest. Everyone else stopped and stared in fascinated horror.

"Demorph!" Casey shouted.

Hector couldn't seem to hear her. His body was shifting and twisting as if it were putty being squished by giant invisible hands. He clutched at his helmet and let out a horrible screech. Green light exploded outward in a shower of white goop and fire.

The fireball faded, leaving a blackened patch in the middle of the desert.

"Well," all three of the remaining duplicates said in perfect unison, "so much for using the Zeo Crystal's powers ourselves." All of them swiveled to look at the nearby Windjammer. "Flying Ace, try to capture them if it's reasonably possible—don't be a hero."

With that, the trio collapsed into white goop. Casey let out a yelp as the stuff splatted all over her. Violet was already on her feet, hurrying to help Lidian. Rising, David turned his attention to Flying Ace. The monster began to back towards his ship.

"I don't think so," David said. "Zeo Power Sword!"

He charged with a yell, slashing at the monster's head. Flying Ace ducked and somersaulted, flipping out a wrist knife as he did. David's sword clanged against the shorter blade as Flying Ace crossed his arms over his head. Pushing upright, Flying Ace kicked David in the gut, sending him staggering back. Reaching under his jacket, Flying Ace pulled out a handgun and started shooting at the Red Ranger.

"Zeo Power Axes!"

With whoosh-thuds, the two blue axes buried themselves in Flying Ace's back, making him stumble forward. The gun fired again, hitting the sand at David's feet. Silently, Flying Ace fell forward into the sand with an unceremonious thump. The Rangers stayed where they were, waiting to see if he would revive and grow giant-sized.

Instead the spaceship exploded, sending fiery chunks of metal in every direction. David, standing just to the side of it, took a piece of wing to the back and went down. A second, larger fireball rose and faded into smoke overhead.

"David!" Violet ran to pull the debris off him.

"I'm fine," he said, though he let her move the chunk of metal. "Is everyone else?"

"I think so," Lidian said, rising.

"Hey, guys! Look at me, I'm Casey Rabbit and the Tar Baby!" Casey yelled, from where she lay coated in white goop.

"I'll take that as a yes," Violet said, shoving the debris aside with a clang.

David took her proffered hand and let her pull him to his feet, and they both turned towards Lidian. The Green Ranger had just retrieved his morphers, and he met the others with a steady gaze. His secret was finally out; he felt a lot lighter now.

"You're an alien?" Violet asked. Abruptly, she looked to David. "And you knew?"

"He wanted it to stay a secret," David said. "It didn't matter to the mission, and it was his decision to make, not mine." To Lidian, he added in a quieter voice, "I'm glad you did, though. No more secrets."

Lidian smiled slightly at that, but Violet still looked at him with distrust and even a little anger. Nearby, Casey had sat up and was staring.

Lidian sighed. "I'm sorry, Vi, Casey. Partly habit, partly just not wanting things to change."

"You really trust us that little?" Violet asked.

Lidian rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at his feet, not saying anything. A still-sticky Casey joined the group, and studied Lidian's face.

"You have a rock in your head." Lidian glanced at her, confused. "It's cool. Can I touch it?"

"Uh . . . maybe when you're not covered in whatever that stuff is?"

"Oh, yeah. Oh," Casey said, with dawning disgust, "This used to be a person or something!"

"Probably more like 'or something,' if that helps," Lidian replied. "Emperor Gemini used them like puppets."

"Emperor Gemini?" David became serious again.

"He was after our morphers-though after what just happened I don't think we'll have to worry about that anymore," Lidian said.

"Don't be so sure," Violet replied. "I get the feeling Zodiac Emperors don't give up on plans that easily."

Casey picked at her hair, grimacing. "I need a shower."

oZo

Trivia: The sibling team are a reference to a certain kind of fanfic: the "recreate the canon team with relatives" story. The main difference here is that the characters literally try to leech off the existing team's powers and family connections for relevance, instead of figuratively.


	10. Cancer: War Stories

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban.

oZo

"Casey, try to conserve your Zord's energy. You don't need to move around constantly," Alpha 5 said into a communicator.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Super ZeoZord II finished its barrel roll and hovered in space. The other three Super ZeoZords were nearby, III and IV sparring and V just waiting in silence.

In the Power Chamber, Alpha was monitoring all of them, and Tommy had joined him to watch the others try out their Zords for a second time—and to spend some time with Alpha. None of the Rangers had objected, and Violet had even asked him for tips on handling the Zords better afterwards.

"I'm bored. Any sign of the ship yet?" Casey asked hopefully.

"It's the Phantom Ranger's ship, if everything goes well we won't detect it until it's already landed," David replied.

Casey let out a squee of excitement. "I can't believe we get to meet the Phantom Ranger! Maybe we'll get to have a teamup battle!"

"Calm down, he's just doing a tech delivery," Violet said. "He's got the rest of the universe to worry about."

Super ZeoZord II drooped visibly. "Not even a little one?"

"Hopefully not," David put in. "We have enough to deal with as it is."

"Oh."

"How much longer will you be able to stay?" Alpha 5 asked Tommy.

"Just three more days. I'm working on a doctorate, that takes time."

The robot shook his head. "Ai-yi-yi, I still can't believe you've decided to be a doctor."

"I can't quite believe it either. Racing cars . . . I think the thrill of that was just because of the Turbo powers, weirdly enough. I'm not much of a study, but they talked me into it." He grinned. "At least I've got an edge in paleontology."

With a little laugh, Alpha 5 got back to work, but Tommy leaned over the console he was working at. "Since this might be the last time we talk for a while, there's something I want to know."

"There is?" Alpha asked innocently, not looking up.

"What happened to you on Eltar? Whenever anyone brings it up you avoid it." Tommy grew serious. "You can tell me, Alpha. I'm your friend, remember?"

Alpha met his gaze. He let out a little sigh. "You're right. It's just not a time I like to remember."

"_So, this is the little automaton who's been helping the mighty Zordon for so long?" King Mondo sneered, looking down his nose at Alpha 5. The other, smaller robot wasn't restrained in any way, but the cluster of Cogs and Quantrons ensured that he wouldn't try anything. "How primitive. I don't see that there's any real use for you."_

"_Yeah, turn him into scrap metal!" Prince Sprocket interjected._

"_Now, now, dear, he may not be of obvious practical use, but this is still an opportunity for us," Queen Machina interrupted, fanning herself as she spoke. She glided over to Alpha 5, looking him over. He tried to look defiant, but she wheeled on him and he flinched with a yelp._

"_This robot helped several different Rangers on Earth. If we show everyone that he is in our control, it will remind them who the true rulers of the galaxy are."_

"_I'd never help you!" Alpha 5 declared, with as much bravado as he could muster. "I'd rather be scrap metal."_

"_Who asked you?" Queen Machina gestured with her fans, and two of the foot soldiers caught Alpha 5 by the arms, holding him still. She walked over to a desk and pulled out what looked oddly like an ordinary CD. "Finster was thrilled to be asked to recreate one of his old programs. He was very proud of it."_

_Alpha 5 struggled, but Queen Machina walked around behind him. "It won't work thi—"_

_She inserted the disk into his back, and he stiffened, little electrical bolts crackling out of the slot. Queen Machina returned to her husband, and the foot soldiers released Alpha 5._

"_Did it work?" Prince Sprocket asked._

"_Who do you serve, robot?" King Mondo asked __Alpha 5._

"_Me? I'll work for anyone who'll help put those Power Punks in their place!"_

"_Very good."_

The alarm started to sound, startling Alpha 5. "What's going on?"

A new male voice came through the comms. "Power Rangers please come in, this is the Phantom Ranger."

Immediately David was speaking. "This is the Red Ranger, what is it?"

Alpha 5 was already working to activate the viewing screen, even if the Rangers wouldn't have time to see it. An image of a spaceship appeared, being pursued by what had to be Windjammer craft. They were shooting, and from the smoke and damaged hull, of it had already scored several hits.

"I can't evade them, they're jamming my cloaking device somehow, and these ships are too quick for my weapons to lock on."

"We're on our way," David said.

Alpha 5 and Tommy watched as the four Super ZeoZords flew to meet the Phantom Ranger's ship. The robot's nervousness was palpable. As they approached, some of the Windjammer ships broke off from the main group and flew towards them, opening fire. Most were lasers, but one blasted a continuous stream of fire, and another a volley of flashing, whirring metal. Drawing its sword, Super ZeoZord V lunged for the nearest ship, but it swerved, only taking a glancing blow to one wingtip. Out of its sides popped a pair of metallic tubes, and unnoticed by the Red Ranger, the same happened to a ship behind it.

"Red Ranger, look out!" Alpha 5 cried, but too late. Blue electricity leapt from one set of tubes to the other, catching Super ZeoZord V in the crackling beams. The sword fell from the Zord's fingers, and David cried out from the cockpit. The energy overload blew out the Zord's systems in bursts of smoke and fire.

"David!" Tommy was already on his feet, reaching for a morpher that wasn't there out of habit.

_Alpha 5 saw the flashes of electricity as he pattered around the corner. The interrogation room's door slid open as he approached, and he saw two monsters, one manning the wall controls, the other bending over a sparking table. The snapping thrum was loud, but not enough that the monster had to do more than raise his voice to be heard._

"_Turn up the current!" He bent low over whoever was strapped to the table, so close that the energy arcing across it nearly caught him. "Just one scream, or a whimper, then this can stop."_

_There was no response. The other monster turned the dial further. Alpha 5 came up right behind this creature._

"_Having a little extra fun, boys?" He asked._

_The monster jumped and looked around guiltily, turning off the dial. His fellow looked up and stepped away from the table. Their victim looked like a human teenage boy, and if not for the open panel on his chest, showing circuitry, wires and blinking lights, someone familiar with the Power Rangers would have guessed he was TJ. As the electrical current stopped, he relaxed against the table, breathing hard. _

"_Hey, this guy destroyed our brother during the war! We're just getting a little payback!"_

"_If I had a heart it would bleed for you, but the Machine Empire has plans for him," Alpha 5 said, "so if you do anything to him Orbus and Klank will probably do it to you."_

_Grumbling, the two monsters left. The robot walked over to the TJ duplicate, who rolled his head around to look at Alpha._

"_I heard you were on the Gaolstation. Are you all right?"_

_Alpha 5 paused, staring blankly at him. "They must have fried your thought processors. Why do _you_ care about _me_? Oh, right, I forgot; you were one of those Ranger ripoffs they made to stop the invasion here. That turned out really well, don't you think?"_

_He yanked a handful of cables out of the sockets in the captive robot's chest, but as he did, one of the circuitry panels slid open, revealing a small metal tube. It fired a beam of white energy at Alpha 5. It enveloped him, and he let out a yell of surprise. The control disc in his back split with an audible crackling pop, and he fell against the table._

"_Alpha?"_

_The little robot groaned. "My head . . . what . . ." He sprang upright, clutching his head in horror. "What have I been doing?"_

"_Easy, calm down, it wasn't your fault."_

"_I'm getting you out of here," Alpha 5 said, starting to work on the restraints, but the robotic TJ stopped him._

"_If you do we'll both be caught and that'll be the end. You'll do a lot more good just pretending to go along with the Alliance for now."_

"_Pretend? You mean act evil? Let them hurt you and the others?" Alpha 5 wrung his hands. "I-I couldn't! Not by myself. I wouldn't know what to do."_

"_Just keep doing what you did before, but if you can, help out everyone here. Sooner or later we'll get some real help and then you won't have to hide anymore."_

"_But I . . ."_

_The duplicate TJ pushed himself up, fixing Alpha with an intent look. "Alpha, 5 we need you to do this. You may not be able to help any of the Rangers directly, but you can keep the United Alliance of Evil from doing any more harm to the people trapped here. I know you can, and if Zordon were here he'd say the same."_

_Alpha 5 faltered. When he spoke again, it was in a very small voice. "But what can I do? I'm not a leader or a hero."_

"_Help. That's all." The robotic TJ looked around suddenly, and lay back on the table. "Someone's coming, you need to go."_

"Hang on, I'm coming!" Super ZeoZord IV charged towards the pair of ships, already whirling both of its axes. Another ship came up on its flank, but a sweeping blow to the side sent that one careening out of control. Hurled through the air, the blue axe embedded itself in the engine of one of the two ships. It sputtered and died, and its half of the electrical field died. Super ZeoZord V drifted free, still sparking, and the other ship fled.

"Red Ranger?" Alpha 5 called.

"M'all right." He sounded breathless, and he'd nearly fallen out of his seat, but the Red Ranger was still morphed. The communicators buzzed with static, and his next words were lost.

"Can you fly?" Super ZeoZord IV came up on its flank, catching the drifting Zord.

". . . systems dead . . ."

"I'll bring you back to Earth."

"No!" The sharp protest cut through the white noise.

"You can't fight, you're a liability," Violet protested.

"Ai-yi-yi," Alpha 5 said, looking from the console to the screen and back. "If they just give his systems a little time!"

"Tell them, not me," Tommy retorted. "They're the ones who need help."

Alpha 5 looked sharply at him, but Tommy just gestured to the comms impatiently. Snapping out of it, the robot activated them and leaned in.

"Violet, move David's Zord out of the line of fire so its systems can recharge."

"You're sure?"

Alpha hesitated, but then spoke in as firm a voice as he could muster. "Very sure."

"All right." Taking the other Super ZeoZord by the arm, Violet's drew it away from the fight.

Meanwhile, several of the other Windjammer ships had fired out grappling hooks, and caught the Phantom Ranger's ship as it tried to flee. Their occupants were already shimmying down the ropes and cutting into the hull. The other Windjammers flanked the boarders, providing cover fire as the remaining two Super ZeoZords moved in to stop them.

"They're inside," the Phantom Ranger reported. In a muffled yell, as if turning away from the comms, he added "Sabrina! Take this and head to the upper decks, see if you can hold them off at the turbolift!"

Alpha 5 was warming to his work. "Rangers, you need to stop the monsters from getting in. Be careful that you don't hit the Phantom Ranger's ship."

"You got it!" Casey had already sent Super ZeoZord II into the swarm and was kicking, punching and clubbing at the ships buzzing around her. Lidian, more methodical, came around from behind to attack the flank. Zooming forward to join them, Super ZeoZord IV caught one of the Windjammer ships by the wing and hauled it in to smash its hatch in with an axe.

The Phantom Ranger's spaceship lurched forward, stretching the grappling ropes taut. Some of the Windjammer ships broke away from the main group and flew around to intercept it, opening fire, but Super ZeoZord IV followed and kept them occupied.

"We've lost hull integrity," the Phantom Ranger reported. "I can vent the air out of the ship, but our own oxygen supplies are low."

"We'll try to get these buzzards off your back," Violet said, crushing a Windjammer ship's nose with her fist.

"_Systems failing," the computer's voice intoned, as a rumble shook Gaolstation. Alpha 5, running to the main consoles, stumbled and fell into a heap of dust. Minutes before, a massive energy wave had passed through the station and over the planet below, turning every single member of the Alliance of Evil into a heap of dust. Unfortunately, that meant nobody was there to make sure the station continued to run._

"_Computer, seal all exterior hatches and bring up the life support again," Alpha 5 ordered, finally reaching the main console._

"_Processing . . . . hatch on Deck 7 unresponsive. Sealing deck."_

"_No, don't! Everyone in there will suffocate!" Alpha 5 protested. "Get me a visual."_

"_Processing." The screen turned black, and then showed an image of one of the halls. A large piece of metal was jamming the hatch open._

"_Oh, is that all? Open the hatch," Alpha 5 said, relieved._

_The computer complied, but even with the door open, the debris didn't move._

"_Atmospheric levels down to 70%."_

"_I know, I know, I'm going!"_

_Alpha ran as fast as he could for the door. The elevator felt agonizingly slow, but when it finally opened on Deck 7, he was nearly dragged out. The fleeing atmosphere dragged everything with it. Stumbling forward, Alpha 5 grasped one end of the debris, set his shoulder against it and pushed as hard as he could._

"_Atmosphere at 60%."_

_Slowly, slowly, the metal began to move. It ground against the doorframe, trembling as the vacuum pulled at it. Alpha 5 turned and put his whole back into it, planting both hands against the wall to push._

"_Atmosphere at 50%."_

_It jolted free so suddenly that it nearly took Alpha 5 with it. He scrabbled at and caught the side of the hatch at the last second, and the metal fell away into empty space._

"_Computer, shut the hatch!" He screamed, dragging himself back inside hand-over-hand._

_The door began to swing shut, and soon it met his feet, pushing him into the room the rest of the way. As the vacuum was cut off, Alpha fell to the floor with a clatter, and lay there for a minute. The hatch sealed with a hissing noise._

"_Pressure restored. Atmosphere normalizing."_

_Alpha let out a huge groan of relief._

"Hey, one of you guys gimme a blade, I want to cut these cables!" Casey yelled, as Super ZeoZord II grabbed one of the ships which had hooked the Phantom Ranger's ship.

"Catch!" Super ZeoZord III threw one of its hatchets, and leaning out, Casey's Zord caught it.

One swing separated the cable from its ship, and a few more blows did the rest. However, a set of guns popped out of the ship in her Zord's hand, and opened fire at point-blank range. Energy pulses tore into the Super ZeoZord's hull, and it fell back.

"Casey!" Both the Green and Blue Rangers yelled at once.

The rest of the Windjammers swarmed like sharks around the damaged Zord, but as they did, a red sword sliced into the nearest. As Alpha had predicted, Super ZeoZord V had recharged, and now it went to work with a vengeance. The other two Zords were already on their way, but Violet just dragged Casey out of the line of fire; David was more than making up for his lost time. His Zord slashed and smashed the Windjammers and took their blasts with the ships he destroyed as a shield.

Either the Windjammers realized they were fighting a losing battle, or their superiors did. They turned tail and fled as one. David started to pursue them, but Alpha 5 interrupted.

"Red Ranger! Stay on course, make sure the Phantom Ranger's ship gets to Earth safely!"

". . . acknowledged." He sounded breathless. "Coming."

The four Zords gathered around the Phantom Ranger's ship as it started towards Earth again. Alpha 5 waited for a long minute, to be sure no more attacks were coming, and then let out a huge sigh of relief, slumping against the console with head in hands.

"Mentoring not as easy as it looks?" Tommy asked.

"Ai-yi-yi."

oZo

"Ready to teleport?" The Phantom Ranger asked. He stood in his newly-landed ship, the Super ZeoZords touching down around him.

"Just about," Alpha 5 said through the comms. "And teleporting now!"

The new equipment, all fresh from Eltar, vanished from his cargo bay in flashes. Footsteps carried from the door, and the Phantom Ranger saw the four Zeo Rangers coming. He lowered his communicator and gave them a nod of acknowledgment.

"Thank you for your help, Rangers."

"It was our pleasure," Violet replied. Beside her, Casey was nearly bouncing up and down in excitement. Her sister gave her a loving smack upside the head and a quiet "get ahold of yourself."

"The hull damage doesn't look serious," a new female voice put in, and an Asian woman entered the room. She wore plain, Earth-looking clothes, but carried a rifle of obviously alien make. At the sight of the Rangers she paused.

"Who's this?" Lidian asked, looking from the Phantom to the woman and back.

"A passenger who requested transportation to Earth. She proved to be very useful during the battle just now."

The woman set the rifle down and grinned at the team. "Glad to help."

"You look familiar," Lidian said thoughtfully. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

A shifty-eyed, nervous look passed over the woman's face, and she opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Alpha 5. His voice was higher than usual with incredulity.

"SCORPINA?!"

oZo

Trivia: Up until this last week I didn't actually know exactly what had happened to Alpha 5 either.


End file.
